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IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 








WORKS OF 


Henryk Stenktewtes 


In DESERT AND WILDERNESS 
WITH FIRE AND SWORD 
THe DELUGE. 2 vols. 

Pan MICHAEL 
CHILDREN OF THE SOIL 
“Quo Vapis” 
SIELANKA, A ForEST PICTURE 
THE KNIGHTS OF THE CROSS 
WirHouT DOGMA 
WHIRLPOOLS 
On THE FIELD OF GLORY 


Let Us FoLttow Him 














iewic?. 


Henryk Sienk 


Por 














PN DRS hin) 
AND WILDERNESS 


jg 
HENRYK SIENKIEWICZ 
AvuTHOR oF “ WitTH Fire anp Sworp,” “Quo Vapis,” 


“WHIRLPOOLS,” ETC. 


TRANSLATED FROM THE POLISH BY 
MAX A. DREZMAL 


BOSTON 
LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY 
1912 


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Copyright, 1912, 
By LitTLe, BRown, AND COMPANY. 


All rights reserved 


Published, February, 1912 


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THE UNIVERSITY PRESS, CAMBRIDGE, U.S.A. 


PART FIRST 


240720 





IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


I 


“Do you know, Nell,” said Stas Tarkowski to his friend, 
a little English girl, “that yesterday the police came and 
arrested the wife of Smain, the overseer, and her three 
children, — that Fatma who several times called at the 
office to see your father and mine.” 

And little Nell, resembling a beautiful picture, raised 
her greenish eyes to Stas and asked with mingled surprise 
and fright: 

“Did they take her to prison?” 

“No, but they will not let her go to the Sudan and an 
official has arrived who will see that she does not move 
a step out of Port Said.” 

ce Why? 7 

Stas, who was fourteen years old and who loved his eight- 
year-old companion very much, but looked upon her as a 
mere child, said with a conceited air: 

“When you reach my age, you will know everything 
which happens, not only along the Canal from Port Said 
to Suez, but in all Egypt. Have you ever heard of the 
Mahdi?”’ 

“T heard that he is ugly and naughty.”’. 

The boy smiled compassionately. = 

“T do not know whether he is ugly. The Sudanese claim > 
that he is handsome. But the word ‘naughty,’ about a 
man who has murdered so many people, could be used only 


4. IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


by a little girl, eight years old, in dresses — oh — reaching 
the knees.” 

“Papa told me so and papa knows best.”’ 

“He told you so because otherwise you would not under- 
stand. He would not express himself to me in that way. 
The Mahdi is worse than a whole shoal of crocodiles. 
Do you understand? That is a nice expression for me. 
‘Naughty!’ They talk that way to babes.” 

But, observing the little girl’s clouded face, he became 
silent and afterwards said: 

“Nell, you know I did not want to cause you any un- 
pleasantness. The time will come when you will be four- 
teen. I certainly promise you that.” 

“Aha!” she replied with a worried look, ‘but if before 
that time the Mahdi should dash into Port Said and eat me.” 

“The Mahdi is not a cannibal, so he does not eat people. 
He only kills them. He will not dash into Port Said, but even 
if he did and wanted to murder you, he would first have to 
do with me.” 

This declaration with the sniff with which Stas inhaled 
the air through his nose, did not bode any good for the 
Mahdi and considerably quieted Nell as to her own person. 

“T know,” she answered, “you would not let him harm 
me. But why do they not allow Fatma to leave Port Said?”’ 

“Because Fatma is a cousin of the Mahdi. Her hus- 
band, Smain, made an offer to the Egyptian Government 
at Cairo to go to the Sud4n, where the Mahdi is staying, 
and secure the liberty of all Europeans who have fallen into 
his hands.” 

“Then Smain is a good man?” 

“Wait! Your papa and my papa, who knew Smain thor- 
oughly, did not have any confidence in him and warned 
Nubar Pasha not to trust him. But the Government 
agreed to send Smain and Smain remained over half a 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 5 


year with the Mahdi. The prisoners not only did not re- 
turn, but news has come from Kharttim that the Mahdists 
are treating them more and more cruelly, and that Smain, 
having taken money from the Government, has become a 
traitor. He joined the Mahdi’s army and has been ap- 
pointed an emir. The people say that in that terrible 
battle in which General Hicks fell, Smain commanded the 
Mahdi’s artillery and that he probably taught the Mahdists 
how to handle the cannon, which before that time they, as 
savage people, could not do. But now Smain is anxious to 
get his wife and children out of Egypt. So when Fatma, 
who evidently knew in advance what Smain was going to 
do, wanted secretly to leave Port Said, the Government 
arrested her with the children.” 

“But what good are Fatma and her children to the 
Government?”’ 

“The Government will say to the Mahdi, — ‘Give us the 
prisoners and we will surrender Fatma’ — ” 

For the time the conversation was interrupted because 
the attention of Stas was attracted by birds flying from the 
direction of Echtum om Farag towards Lake Menzaleh. 
They flew quite low and in the clear atmosphere could be 
plainly seen some pelicans with curved napes, slowly mov- 
ing immense wings. Stas at once began to imitate their 
flight. So with head upraised, he ran a score of paces along 
the dyke, waving his outstretched arms. 

“Look!” suddenly exclaimed Nell. “Flamingoes are also 
flying.” 

Stas stood still im a moment, as actually behind the 
pelicans, but somewhat higher, could be seen, suspended in 
the sky, two great red and purple flowers, as it were. 

“Flamingoes! flamingoes! Before night they return to 
their haunts on the little islands,” the boy said. “Oh, if I 
only had a rifle!” 


6 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


“Why should you want to shoot at them?” 

“Girls don’t understand such things. But let us go far- 
ther; we may see more of them.” 

Saying this he took the girl’s hand and together they 
strolled towards the first wharf beyond Port Said. Dinah, 
a negress and at one time nurse of little Nell, closely fol- 
lowed them. They walked on the embankment which 
separated the waters of Lake Menzaleh from the Canal, 
through which at that time a big English steamer, in charge 
of a pilot, floated. The night was approaching. The sun 
still stood quite high but was rolling in the direction of the 
lake. The salty waters of the latter began to glitter with 
gold and throb with the reflection of peacock feathers. On 
the Arabian bank as far as the eye could reach, stretched a 
tawny, sandy desert — dull, portentous, lifeless. Between 
the glassy, as if half-dead, heaven and the immense, wrin- 
kled sands there was not a trace of a living being. While 
on the Canal life seethed, boats bustled about, the whistles 
of steamers resounded, and above Menzaleh flocks of mews 
and wild ducks scintillated in the sunlight, yonder, on the 
Arabian bank, it appeared as if it were the region of death. 
Only in proportion as the sun, descending, became ruddier 
and ruddier did the sands begin to assume that lily hue 
which the heath in Polish forests has in autumn. 

The children, walking towards the wharf, saw a few more 
flamingoes, which pleased their eyes. After this Dinah 
announced that Nell must return home. In Egypt, after 
days which even in winter are often scorching, very cold 
nights follow, and as Nell’s health demanded great care, her 
father, Mr. Rawlinson, would not allow her to be near the 
water after sunset. They, therefore, returned to the city, 
on the outskirts of which, near the Canal, stood Mr. Raw- 
linson’s villa, and by the time the sun plunged into the sea 
they were in the house. Soon, the engineer Tarkowski, 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS fe 


Sias’ father, who was invited to dinner arrived, and the whole 
company, together with a French lady, Nell’s teacher, 
Madame Olivier, sat at the table. 

Mr. Rawlinson, one of the directors of the Suez Cana! 
Company, and Ladislaus Tarkowski, senior engineer of the 
same company, lived for many years upon terms of the 
closest intimacy. Both were widowers, but Pani Tarkowski, 
by birth a French lady, died at the time Stas came into the 
world, while Nell’s mother died of consumption in Helwan 
when the girl was three years old. Both widowers lived in 
neighboring houses in Port Said, and owing to their duties 
met daily. A common misfortune drew them still closer to 
each other and strengthened the ties of friendship pre- 
viously formed. Mr. Rawlinson loved Stas as his own son, 
while Pan Tarkowski would have jumped into fire and 
water for little Nell. After finishing their daily work the 
most agreeable recreation for them was to talk about the 
children, their education and future. During such con- 
versations it frequently happened that Mr. Rawlinson 
would praise the ability, energy, and bravery of Stas and 
Pan Tarkowski would grow enthusiastic over the sweet- 
ness and angelic countenance of Nell. And the one and 
the other spoke the truth. Stas was a trifle conceited and 
a trifle boastful, but diligent in his lessons, and the teachers 
in the English school in Port Said, which he attended, 
credited him with uncommon abilities. As to courage and 
resourcefulness, he inherited them from his father, for Pan 
Tarkowski possessed these qualities in an eminent degree 
and in a large measure owed to them his present position. 

In the year 1863 he fought for eleven months without 
cessation. Afterwards, wounded, taken into captivity, and 
condemned to Siberia, he escaped from the interior of Russia 
and made his way to foreign lands. Before he entered into 
the insurrection he was a qualified engineer; nevertheless 


8 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


he devoted a year to the study of hydraulics. Later he 
secured a position at the Canal and in the course of a few 
years, when his expert knowledge, energy, and industry be- 
came known, he assumed the important position of senior 
engineer. 

Stas was born, bred, and reached his fourteenth year in 
Port Said on the Canal; in consequence of which the en- 
gineers called him the child of the desert. At a later period, 
when he was attending school, he sometimes, during the 
vacation season and holidays, accompanied his father or 
Mr. Rawlinson on trips, which their duty required them 
to make from Port Said to Suez to inspect the work on the 
embankment or the dredging of the channel of the Canal. 
He knew everybody —the engineers and custom-house 
officials as well as the laborers, Arabs and negroes. He 
bustled about and insinuated himself everywhere, appear- 
ing where least expected; he made long excursions on the 
embankment, rowed in a boat over Menzaleh, venturing 
at times far and wide. He crossed over to the Arabian 
bank and mounting the first horse he met, or in the absence 
of a horse, a camel, or even a donkey, he would imitate 
Farys ! on the desert; in a word, as Pan Tarkowski expressed 
it, “he was always popping up somewhere,” and every mo- 
ment free from his studies he passed on the water. 

His father did not oppose this, as he knew that rowing, 
horseback riding, and continual life in the fresh air strength- 
ened his health and developed resourcefulness within him. 
In fact, Stas was taller and stronger than most boys of his 
age. It was enough to glance at his eyes to surmise that 
in case of any adventure he would sin more from too much 
audacity than from timidity. In his fourteenth year, he 
was one of the best swimmers in Port Said, which meant 


1 Farys, the hero of Adam Mickiewicz’s Oriental poem of the 
same name. — 7'ranslator’s note. 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 9 


not a little, for the Arabs and negroes swim like fishes. 
Shooting from carbines of a small caliber, and only with 
cartridges, for wild ducks and Egyptian geese, he acquired 
an unerring eye and steady hand. His dream was to hunt 
the big animals sometime in Central Africa. He therefore 
eagerly listened to the narratives of the Suddnese working 
on the Canal, who in their native land had encountered 
big, thick-skinned, and rapacious beasts. 

This also had its advantage, for at the same time he 
learned their languages. It was not enough to excavate the 
Suez Canal; it was necessary also to maintain it, as other- 
wise the sands of the deserts, lying on both banks, would 
fill it up in the course of a year. The grand work of De 
Lesseps demands continual labor and vigilance. So, too, 
at the present day, powerful machines, under the super- 
vision of skilled engineers, and thousands of laborers are at 
work, dredging the channel. At the excavation of the 
Canal, twenty-five thousand men labored. To-day, owing 
to the completion of the work and improved néw machinery, 
considerably less are required. Nevertheless, the number is 
great. Among them the natives of the locality predomi- 
nate. There is not, however, a lack of Nubians, Sudanese, 
Somalis, and various negroes coming from the White and 
Blue Niles, that is, from the region which previous to the 
Mahdi’s insurrection was occupied by the Egyptian Gov- 
ernment. Stas lived with all on intimate terms and having, 
as is usual with Poles, an extraordinary aptitude for lan- 
guages he became, he himself not knowing how and when, 
acquainted with many of their dialects. Born in Egypt, 
he spoke Arabian like an Arab. From the natives of Zan- 
zibar, many of whom worked as firemen on the steam 
dredges, he learned Kiswahili, a language widely prevalent 
all over Central Africa. He could even converse with 


the negroes of the Dinka and Shilluk tribes, residing on the 


10 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


Nile below Fashoda. Besides this, he spoke fluently Eng- 
lish, French, and also Polish, for his father, an ardent 
patriot, was greatly concerned that his son should know 
the language of his forefathers. Stas in reality regarded 
this language as the most beautiful in the world and taught 
it, not without some success, to little Nell. One thing 
only he could not accomplish, that she should pronounce his 
name Stas, and not “Stes.” Sometimes, on account of this, 
a misunderstanding arose between them, which continued 
until small tears began to glisten in the eyes of the girl. 
Then ‘‘ Stes” would beg her pardon and became angry at 
himself. 

He had, however, an annoying habit of speaking slight- 
ingly of her eight years and citing by way of contrast his 
own grave age and experience. He contended that a boy 
who is finishing his fourteenth year, if he is not fully ma- 
tured, at least is not a mere child, but on the contrary, is 
capable of performing all kinds of heroic deeds, especially if 
he has Polish and French blood. He craved most ardently 
that sometime an opportunity would occur for such deeds, 
particularly in defense of Nell. Both invented various 
dangers and Stas was compelled to answer her questions 
as to what he would do if, for instance, a crocodile, ten yards 
long, or a scorpion as big as a dog, should crawl through the 
window of her home. To both it never occurred for a mo- 
ment that impending reality would surpass all their fan- 
tastic suppositions. 


a 


In the meantime, in the house, good news awaited them 
during the dinner. Messrs. Rawlinson and Tarkowski, as 
skilled engineers, had been invited a few weeks before, to 
examine and appraise the work carried on in connection 
with the whole net-work of canals in the Province of EI- 
Fayiim, in the vicinity of the city of Medinet near Lake 
Karun, as well as along the Yisuf and Nile rivers. They 
were to stay there for about a month and secured furloughs 
from their company. As the Christmas holidays were ap- 
proaching, both gentlemen, not desiring to be separated 
from the children, decided that Stas and Nell should also 
go to Medinet. Hearing this news the children almost 
leaped out of their skins from joy. They had already 
visited the cities lying along the Canal, particularly Is- 
mailia and Suez, and while outside the Canal, Alexandria 
and Cairo, near which they viewed the great pyramids and 
the Sphinx. But these were short trips, while the expedi- 
tion to Medinet el-Fayiim required a whole day’s travel by 
railway, southward along the Nile and then westward from 
El-Wasta towards the Libyan Desert. Stas knew Medinet 
from the narratives of younger engineers and tourists who 
went there to hunt for various kinds of water-fowls as well 
as desert wolves and hyenas. He knew that it was a sepa- 
rate, great oasis lying off the west bank of the Nile but not 
dependent upon its inundations and having its water system 
formed by Lake Karun through Bahr Ydsuf and a whole 


12 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


chain of small canals. Those who had seen this oasis said 
that although that region belonged to Egypt, nevertheless, 
being separated from it by a desert, it formed a distinct 
whole. Only the Yiisuf River connects, one might say with 
a thin blue thread, that locality with the valley of the Nile. 
The great abundance of water, fertility of soil, and luxu- 
riant vegetation made an earthly paradise of it, while the 
extensive ruins of the city of Crocodilopolis drew thither 
hundreds of curious tourists. Stas, however, was attracted 
mainly by the shores of Lake Karun, with its swarms of 
birds and its wolf-hunts on the desert hills of Gebel el- 
Sedment. 

But his vacation began a few days later, and as the in- 
spection of the work on the canals was an urgent matter 
and the gentlemen could not lose any time, it was arranged 
that they should leave without delay, while the children, 
with Madame Olivier, were to depart a week later. Nell 
and Stas had a desire to leave at once, but Stas did not dare 
to make the request. Instead they began to ask questions 
about various matters relative to the journey, and with 
new outbursts of joy received the news that they would 
not live in uncomfortable hotels kept by Greeks, but in 
tents furnished by the Cook Tourists’ Agency. This is the 
customary arrangement of tourists who leave Cairo for a 
lengthy stay at Medinet. Cook furnishes tents, servants, 
cooks, supplies of provisions, horses, donkeys, camels, and 
guides; so the tourist does not have to bother about any- 
thing. This, indeed, is quite an expensive mode of travel- 
ing; but Messrs. Tarkowski and Rawlinson did not have to 
take that into account as all expenses were borne by the 
Egyptian Government, which invited them, as experts, to 
inspect and appraise the work on the canals. Nell, who, 
above everything in the world, loved riding on a camel, ob- 
tained a promise from her father that she should have a 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 13 


separate “hump-backed saddle horse” on which, together 
with Madame Olivier, or Dinah, and sometimes with Stas, 
she could participate in the excursions to the nearer locali- 
ties of the desert and to Karun. Pan Tarkowski promised 
Stas that he would allow him some nights to go after wolves, 
and if he brought a good report from school he would get 
a genuine English short rifle and the necessary equipment 
for a hunter. As Stas was confident that he would suc- 
ceed, he at once began to regard himself as the owner of a 
short rifle and promised himself to perform various aston- 
ishing and immortal feats with it. 

On such projects and conversation the dinner passed for 
the overjoyed children. But somewhat less eagerness for 
the contemplated journey was displayed by Madame 
Olivier who was loath to leave the comfortable villa in 
Port Said and who was frightened at the thought of living 
for several weeks in a tent, and particularly at the plan of 
excursions on camel-back. It happened that she had 
already tried this mode of riding several times and these 
attempts ended unfortunately. Once the camel rose too 
soon, before she was well seated in the saddle, and as a 
result she rolled off his back onto the ground. Another 
time, the dromedary, not belonging to the light-footed 
variety, jolted her so that two days elapsed before she recov- 
ered; in a word, although Nell, after two or three pleasure- 
rides which Mr. Rawlinson permitted her to take, declared 
that there was nothing more delightful in the world, in 
the same measure only painful recollections remained for 
Madame Olivier. She said that this was good enough for 
Arabs or for a chit like Nell, who could not be jolted any 
more than a fly which should alight upon a camel’s hump, 
but not for persons dignified, and not too light, and 
having at the same time a certain proneness to unbearable 
sea-sickness. 


14 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


But as to Medinet el-Fayfim she had other fears. Now 
in Port Said as well as in Alexandria, Cairo, and in the 
whole of Egypt nothing was the subject of more discus- 
sion than the Mahdi’s insurrection and the cruelties of 
the dervishes. Madame Olivier, not knowing exactly 
where Medinet was situated, became alarmed as to whether 
it was not too near the Mahdists, and finally began to 
question Mr. Rawlinson about it. 

But he only smiled and said: 

“The Mahdi at this moment is besieging Khartiim in 
which General Gordon is defending himself. Does Madame 
know how far it is from Medinet to Khartim?” 

“T have no idea.” 

“About as far as from here to Sicily,’ 
Tarkowski. 

“Just about,” corroborated Stas. “ Khartiim lies where 
the White and Blue Niles meet and form one river. We 
are separated from it by the immense expanse of Egypt 
and the whole of Nubia.”’ 

Afterwards he wanted to add that even if Medinet 
should be closer to the regions overrun by the insurgents, 
he, of course, would be there with his short rifle; but 
recalling that for similar bragging he sometimes received 
a sharp reproof from his father, he became silent. 

The older members of the party, however, began to talk 
of the Mahdi and the insurrection, for this was the most 
important matter affecting Egypt. The news from Khar- 
tim was bad. The wild hordes already had been besieging 
the city for a month and a half and the Egyptian and 
English governments were acting slowly. The relief 
expedition had barely started and it was generally feared 
that notwithstanding the fame, bravery, and ability 
of Gordon this important city would fall into the hands 
of the barbarians. This was the opinion of Pan Tar- 


5 


explained Pan 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 15 


kowski, who suspected that England in her soul desired 
that the Mahdi should wrest it from Egypt in order to 
retake it later from him and make this vast region an 
English possession. He did not, however, share this sus- 
picion with Mr. Rawlinson as he did not want to offend 
his patriotic feelings. 

Towards the close of the dinner Stas began to ask why 
the Egyptian Government had annexed all the country 
lying south of Nubia, particularly Kordofan, Darfur, and 
the Sudan as far as Lake Albert Nyanza and deprived 
the natives there of their liberty. Mr. Rawlinson ex- 
plained that whatever was done by the Egyptian Govern- 
ment was done at the request of England which extended 
a protectorate over Egypt and in reality ruled her as 
Egypt herself desired. 

“The Egyptian Government did not deprive anybody 
of his liberty,” he said, “but restored it to hundreds of 
thousands and perhaps to millions of people. In Kor- 
dofan, in Darfur and in the Sudan there were not during 
the past years any independent States. Only here and 
there some petty ruler laid claim to some lands and took 
possession of them by force in spite of the will of the 
residents. They were mainly inhabited by independent 
Arab-negro tribes, that is, by people having the blood 
of both races. These tribes lived in a state of incessant 
warfare. They attacked each other and seized horses, 
camels, cattle, and, above all, slaves; besides, they per- 
petrated numerous atrocities. But the worst were the 
ivory and slave hunters. They formed a separate class, 
to which belonged nearly all the chiefs of the tribes and 
the richer traders. They made armed expeditions into the 
interior of Africa, appropriating everywhere ivory tusks, 
and carried away thousands of people: men, women, 
and children. In addition they destroyed villages and 


16 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


settlements, devastated fields, shed streams of blood, and 
slaughtered without pity all who resisted. In the southern 
portion of the Sudan, Darfur, and Kordof4n, as well as the 
region beyond the Upper Nile as far as the lake they de- 
populated some localities entirely. But the Arabian bands 
made their incursions farther and farther so that Central 
Africa became a land of tears and blood. Now England 
which, as you know, pursues slave-dealers all over the 
world, consented that the Egyptian Government should 
annex Kordofan, Darfur, and the Sudén. This was the only 
method to compel these pillagers to abandon their abomin- 
able trade and the only way to hold them in restraint. The 
unfortunate negroes breathed more freely; the depreda- 
tions ceased and the people began to live under tolerable 
laws. But such a state of affairs did not please the 
traders, so when Mohammed Ahmed, known to-day as 
‘the Mahdi,’ appeared among them and proclaimed a 
holy war on the pretext that the true faith of Mahomet 
was perishing, all rushed like one man to arms; and so 
that terrible war has been kindled in which thus far the 
Egyptians have met with such poor success. The Mahdi 
has defeated the forces of the Government in every battle. 
He has occupied Kordofan, Darfur, and the Sudan; his 
hordes at present are laying a siege to Khartfim and are 
advancing to the north as far as the frontiers of Nubia.” 
“Can they advance as far as Egypt?” asked Stas. 
“No,” answered Mr. Rawlinson. “The Mahdi an- 
nounces, indeed, that he will conquer the whole world, 
but he is a wild man who has no conception of anything. 
He never will take Egypt, as England would not permit it.” 
“Tf, however, the Egyptian troops are completely 
routed?” 
“Then would appear the English armies which no one 
has ever overcome.” 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 17 


“And why did England permit the Mahdi to occupy 
so much territory?” 

“How do you know that she has permitted it?” replied 
Mr. Rawlinson. “England is never in a hurry because 
she is eternal.” 

Further conversation was interrupted by a negro 
servant, who announced that Fatma Smain had arrived 
and begged for an audience. 

Women in the East are occupied exclusively with 
household affairs and seldom leave the harems. Only 
the poorer ones go to the market or work in the fields, 
as the wives of the fellahs, the Egyptian peasants, do; 
but these at such times veil their faces. Though in the 
Sudan, from which region Fatma came, this custom was 
not observed, and though she had come to Mr. Rawlin- 
son’s office previously, nevertheless, her arrival, particu- 
larly at such a late hour and at a private house, evoked 
surprise. 

“We shall learn something new about Smain,”’ said 
Pan Tarkowski. 

“Yes,” answered Mr. Rawlinson, giving at the same 
time a signal to the servant to usher Fatma in. 

Accordingly, after a while there entered a tall, young 
Sudanese woman with countenance entirely unveiled, 
complexion very dark, and eyes beautiful but wild, and 
a trifle ominous. Entering, she at once prostrated herself, 
and when Mr. Rawlinson ordered her to rise, she raised 
herself but remained on her knees. 

“Sidi,” she said, “ May Allah bless thee, ae posterity, 
thy home, and thy flocks!” 

“What do you want?” asked the engineer. 

“Mercy, help, and succor in misfortune, oh, sir! I 
am imprisoned in Port Said and destruction hangs over 
me and my children.” 


18 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


“You say that you are imprisoned, and yet you could 
come here, and in the night-time at that.” 

“T have been escorted by the police who day and night 
watch my house, and I know that they have an order to 
cut off our heads soon!”’ 

“Speak like a rational woman,” answered Mr. Rawlin- 
son, shrugging his shoulders. “ You are not in the Sudan, 
but in Egypt where no one is executed without a trial. 
So you may be certain that not a hair will fall from your 
head or the heads of your children.” 

But she began to implore him to intercede for her yet 
once more with the Government, to procure permission 
for her to go to Smain. 

“Englishmen as great as you are, sir,” she said, “can 
do everything. The Government in Cairo thinks that 
Smain is a traitor, but that is false. There visited me 
yesterday Arabian merchants, who arrived from Suakin, 
and before that they bought gums and ivory in the Sudan, 
and they informed me that Smain is lying sick at El-Fasher 
and is calling for me and the children to bless them —”’ 

“All this is your fabrication, Fatma,” interrupted 
Mr. Rawlinson. 

But she began to swear by Allah that she spoke the 
truth, and afterwards said that if Smain got well, he 
undoubtedly would ransom all the Christian captives; 
and if he should die, she, as a relative of the leader of 
the dervishes, could obtain access to him easily and would 
secure whatever she wished. Let them only allow her 
to leave, for her heart will leap out of her bosom from 
longing for her husband. In what had she, ill-fated 
woman, offended the Government or the Khedive? Was 
it her fault or could she be held accountable because she 
was the relative of the dervish, Mohammed Ahmed? 

Fatma did not dare in the presence of the “English 


, 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 19 


people” to call her relative “the Mahdi,” as that meant 
the Redeemer of the world. She knew that the Egyptian 
Government regarded him as a rebel and an imposter. 
But continually striking her forehead and invoking heaven 
to witness her innocence and unhappy plight, she began 
to weep and at the same time wail mournfully as women 
in the East do after losing husbands or sons. Afterwards 
she again flung herself with face on the ground, or rather 
on the carpet with which the inlaid floor was covered, 
and waited in silence. 

Nell, who towards the close of the dinner felt a little 
sleepy, became thoroughly aroused and, having an upright 
little heart, seized her father’s hand, and kissing it again 
and again, began to beg for Fatma. | 

“Let papa help her! Do please, papa!”’ 

Fatma, evidently understanding English, exclaimed 
amidst her sobs, not removing her face from the carpet: 

“May Allah bless thee, bird of paradise, with the joys 
of Omayya, oh, star without a blemish!” 

However implacable Stas in his soul was towards the 
Mahdists, he was moved by Fatma’s entreaties and grief. 
Besides, Nell interceded for her and he in the end always 
wanted that which Nell wished. So after a while he spoke 
out, as if to himself but so that all could hear him: 

“Tf I were the Government, I would allow Fatma to 
PO.” 

“But as you are not the Government,” Pan Tarkowski 
said to him, “ you would do better not to interfere in that 
which does not concern you.”’ 

Mr. Rawlinson also had a compassionate soul and 
was sensible of Fatma’s situation, but certain statements 
which she made struck him as being downright falsehoods. 
Having almost daily relations with the custom-house at 
Ismailia, he well knew that no new cargoes of gums or 


20 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


ivory were being transported lately through the Canal. 
The trade in those wares had ceased almost entirely. 
Arabian traders, moreover, could not return from the city 
of El-Fasher which lay in the Sudan, as the Mahdists, 
as a rule, barred all traders from their territories, and 
those whom they captured were despoiled and kept in 
captivity. And it was almost a certainty that the state- 
ment about Smain’s sickness was a falsehood. 

But as Nell’s little eyes were still looking at her papa 
appealingly, he, not desiring to sadden the little girl, 
after a while said to Fatma: 

“Fatma, I already have written at your request to 
the Government, but without result. And now listen. 
To-morrow, with this mehendis (engineer) whom you 
see here, I leave for Medinet el-Fayim; on the way we 
shall stop one day in Cairo, for the Khedive desires to 
confer with us about the canals leading from Bahr Ytsuf 
and give us a commission as to the same. During the 
conference I shall take care to present your case and try 
to secure for you his favor. But I can do nothing more, 
nor shall I promise more.” 

Fatma rose and, extending both hands in sign of grati- 
tude, exclaimed: 

“ And so I am safe.” 

“No, Fatma,” answered Mr. Rawlinson, “do not speak 
of safety for I already told you that death threatens 
neither you nor your children. But that the Khedive 
will consent to your departure I do not guarantee, for 
Smain is not sick but is a traitor, who, having taken money 
from the Government, does not at all think of ransoming 
the captives from Mohammed Ahmed.” 

“Smain is innocent, sir, and lies in El-Fasher,” re- 
iterated Fatma, “but if even he broke his faith with the 
Government, I swear before you, my benefactor, that 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 21 


if I am allowed to depart I will entreat Mohammed 
Ahmed until I secure the deliverance of your captives.” 

“Very well. I promise you once more that I will 
intercede for you with the Khedive.” 

Fatma began to prostrate herself. 

“Thank you, Sidi! You are not only powerful, but 
just. And now I entreat that you permit me to serve 
you as a slave.” 

“In Egypt no one can be a slave,” answered Mr. Raw- 
linson with a smile. “I have enough servants and cannot 
avail myself of your services; for, as I told you, we all 
are leaving for Medinet and perhaps will remain there 
until Ramazan.” 

“T know, sir, for the overseer, Chadigi, told me about 
that. I, when I heard of it, came not only to implore you 
for help, but also to tell you that two men of my Dongola 
tribe, Idris and Gebhr, are camel drivers in Medinet and 
will prostrate themselves before you when you arrive, 
submitting to your commands themselves and _ their 
camels.” 

“Good, good,” answered the director, “but that is 
the affair of the Cook Agency, not mine.” 

Fatma, having kissed the hands of the two engineers 
and the children, departed blessing Nell particularly. 
Both gentlemen remained silent for a while, after which 
Mr. Rawlinson said: 

“Poor woman! But she lies as only in the East they 
know how to lie, and even in her declaration of gratitude 
there is a sound of some false note.” 

“Undoubtedly,” answered Pan Tarkowski; “but to 
tell the truth, whether Smain betrayed or did not, the 
Government has no right to detain her in Egypt, as she 
cannot be held responsible for her husband.” 

“The Government does not now allow any Sudanese 


22 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


to leave for Suakin or Nubia without a special permit; 
so the prohibition does not affect Fatma alone. Many 
of them are found in Egypt for they come here for gain. 
Among them are some who belong to the Dongolese 
tribe; that is the one from which the Mahdi comes. There 
are, for instance, besides Fatma, Chadigi and those two 
camel drivers in Medinet. The Mahdists call the 
Egyptians Turks and are carrying on a war with them, 
but among the local Arabs can be found a considerable 
number of adherents of the Mahdi, who would willingly 
join him. We must number among them all the fanatics, 
all the partisans of Arabi Pasha, and many among the 
poorer classes. They hold it ill of the Government that 
it yielded entirely to English influence and claim that 
the religion suffers by it. God knows how many already 
have escaped across the desert, avoiding the customary 
sea route to Suakin. So the Government, having learned 
that Fatma also wanted to run away, ordered her to be 
put under surveillance. For her and her children only, 
as relatives of the Mahdi himself, can an exchange of 
the captives be effected.” 

“Do the lower classes in Egypt really favor the Mahdi?” 

“The Mahdi has followers even in the army, which 
perhaps for that reason fights so poorly.” 

“But how can the Sudanese fly across the desert? 
Why, that is a thousand miles.” 

“Nevertheless, by that route slaves were brought into 
Egypt.” 

“T should judge that Fatma’s children could not endure 
such a journey.” 

“That is why she wants to shorten it and ride by way 
of the sea to Suaékin.”’ 

“Tn any case, she is a poor woman.” 

With this the conversation concluded. 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 23 


Twelve hours later “the poor woman,” having care- 
fully closeted herself in her house with the son of the 
overseer Chadigi, whispered to him with knitted brows 
and a grim glance of her beautiful eyes: 

“Chamis, son of Chadigi, here is the money. Go even 
to-day to Medinet and give to Idris this writing, which 
the devout dervish Bellali, at my request, wrote to him. 
The children of the mehendes are good, but if I do not 
obtain a permit, then there is no other alternative. I 
know you will not betray me. Remember that you and 
your father too come from the Dongolese tribe in which 
was born the great Mahdi.” 


Hil 


BotH engineers left the following night for Cairo where 
they were to visit the British minister plenipotentiary 
and hold an audience with the viceroy. Stas calculated 
that this would require two days, and his calculation 
appeared accurate, for on the third day at night he re- 
ceived from his father, who was already at Medinet, the 
following message: “The tents are ready. You are to 
leave the moment your vacation begins. Inform Fatma 
through Chadigi that we could not accomplish anything 
for her.” A similar message was also received by Madame 
Olivier who at once, with the assistance of the negress 
Dinah, began to make preparations for the journey. 

The sight of these preparations gladdened the hearts 
of the children. But suddenly an accident occurred which 
deranged their plans and seemed likely to prevent their 
journey. On the day on which Stas’ winter vacation 
began and on the eve of their departure a scorpion stung 
Madame Olivier during her afternoon nap in the garden. 
These venomous creatures in Egypt are not usually very 
dangerous, but in this case the sting might become ex- 
ceptionally baleful. The scorpion had crawled onto the 
head-rest of the linen chair and stung Madame Olivier in 
the neck at a moment when she leaned her head against 
the rest. As she had suffered lately from erysipelas in the 
face, fear was entertained that the sickness might recur. 
A physician was summoned at once, but he arrived two 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 25 


hours later as he had engagements elsewhere. The neck 
and even the face were already swollen, after which fever 
appeared, with the usual symptoms of poisoning. The 
physician announced that under the circumstances there 
could not be any talk of a journey and ordered the patient 
to bed. In view of this it seemed highly probable that 
the children would be compelled to pass the Christmas 
holidays at home. In justice to Nell it must be stated 
that in the first moments particularly she thought more 
of the sufferings of her teacher than of the lost pleasures 
in Medinet. She only wept in corners at the thought of 
not seeing her father for a few weeks. Stas did not accept 
the accident with the same resignation. He first for- 
warded a dispatch and afterwards mailed a letter with 
an inquiry as to what they were to do. The reply came 
in two days. Mr. Rawlinson first communicated with 
the physician; having learned from him that immediate 
danger was removed and that only a fear of the recurrence 
of erysipelas prevented Madame Olivier’s departure from 
Port Said, he, above all, took precaution that she should 
have proper care and nursing, and afterwards sent the 
children permission to travel with Dinah. But as Dinah, 
notwithstanding her extreme attachment for Nell, was not 
able to take care of herself on the railways and in the 
hotels, the duties of guide and paymaster during this 
trip devolved upon Stas. It can easily be understood 
how proud he was of this réle and with what chivalrous 
spirit he assured little Nell that not a hair would fall 
from her head, as if in reality the road to Cairo and to 
Medinet presented any difficulties or dangers. 

All preparations having been completed, the children 
started that very day for Ismailia by way of the Canal. 
From Ismailia they were to travel by rail to Cairo, where 
they were to pass the night. On the following day they 


26 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


were to ride to Medinet. Leaving Ismailia they saw 
Lake Timsaéh which Stas already knew, as Pan Tarkowski, 
being an ardent sportsman, in moments free from his 
duties had taken Stas along with him to hunt for aquatic 
birds. Afterwards the road ran along Wadi Tiimilat 
close to the fresh-water canal leading from the Nile to 
Ismailia and Suez. This canal had been dug before the 
Suez Canal, so that the workingmen working on De Les- 
seps’ grand achievement would not be deprived entirely 
of water fit for drinking purposes. But its excavation 
had yet another fortunate result, for this region, which 
before was a sterile desert, bloomed anew when through 
it coursed a strong and life-bringing stream of fresh water. 
The children could observe on the left side from the 
windows of the coach a wide belt of verdure composed 
of meadows on which were pastured horses, camels, and 
sheep, and of tilled fields, diversified with maize, millet, 
alfalfa, and other varieties of plants used for fodder. On 
the bank of the canal could be seen all kinds of wells in 
the shape of large wheels with buckets attached, or in the 
usual form of well-sweeps, drawing water, which fellahs 
laboriously carried to the garden-beds or conveyed in 
barrels, on wagons drawn by buffaloes. Over the sprouting 
grain pigeons soared, and at times a whole covey of quails 
sprang up. On the canal banks, storks and cranes gravely 
stalked. In the distance, above the mud hovels of the 
fellahs towered, like plumes of feathers, the crowns of date 
palms. 

On the other hand, on the north side of the railway 
there stretched a stark desert, but unlike the one which 
lay on the other side of the Suez Canal. That one looked 
as level as would the bottom of the sea, from which the 
water had disappeared and only wrinkled sand remained, 
while here the sand was more yellowish, heaped up as if 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 27 


in great knolls, covered on the sides with tufts of gray 
vegetation. Between those knolls, which here and there 
changed into high hills, lay wide valleys in which from 
time to time caravans could be seen moving. 

From the windows of the car the children could catch 
sight of heavily loaded camels, walking in a long string, 
one after another, over the sandy expanse. In front of each 
camel was an Arab in a black mantle, with a white turban 
on his head. Little Nell was reminded of the pictures 
in the Bible, which she had seen at home, representing 
the Israelites entering Egypt during the times of Joseph. 
They were exactly the same. Unfortunately she could 
not see the caravans very well as at the windows on that 
side of the car sat two English officers, who obstructed 
her view. 

But she had scarcely told this to Stas, when he turned 
to the officers with a very grave mien and, touching his 
hat with his finger, said: 

“Gentlemen, could you kindly make room for this 
little Miss who wishes to look at the camels?” 

Both officers accepted the suggestion with the same 
gravity, and one of them not only surrendered his place 
to the curious Miss but lifted her and placed her in a seat 
near the window. 

And Stas began his lecture: 

“This is the ancient land of Goshen, which Pharaoh 
gave to Joseph for his brother Israelites. At one time 
in far antiquity a canal of fresh water ran here so that 
this new one is but a reconstruction of the old. But later 
it fell into ruin and the country became a desert. Now 
the soil again is fertile.” 

“How does the gentleman know this?” asked one of 
the officers. 

“At my age, we know such things,” answered Stas; 


28 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


“and besides, not long ago Professor Sterling gave us a 
lecture on Wadi Tamilat.” 

Though Stas spoke English quite fluently, his slightly 
different accent attracted the attention of the other 
officer, who asked: 

“Ts the little gentleman an Englishman?” 

“Miss Nell, whose father entrusted her to my care on 
this journey, is little. I am not an Englishman but a 
Pole and the son of an engineer at the Canal.” 

The officer, hearing the answer of the pert boy, smiled 
and said: 

“T esteem the Poles. I belong to a regiment of cavalry, 
which during the times of Napoleon several times fought 
with the Polish Uhlans, and that tradition until the 
present day forms its glory and honor.” ! 

“T am pleased to form your acquaintance,’ 
Stas. 

The conversation easily proceeded farther, for the officers 
were evidently amused. It appeared that both were 
also riding from Port Said to Cairo to see the British 
minister plenipotentiary and to receive final instructions 
for a long journey which soon awaited them. The younger 
one was an army surgeon, while the one who spoke to 
Stas, Captain Glenn, had an order from his government 
to proceed from Cairo, via Suez, to Mombasa and assume 
the government of the entire region adjoining that port 
and extending as far as the unknown Samburu country. 

Stas, who with deep interest read about travels in 
Africa, knew that Mombasa was situated a few degrees 


’ answered 


1 Those regiments of English cavalry which during the times of 
Napoleon met the Polish cavalry actually pride themselves with 
that fact at the present time, and every officer speaking of his 
regiment never fails to say, “‘We fought with the Poles.” See 
Chevrillon, “‘ Aux Indes.” ; 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 29 


beyond the equator and that the adjoining country, 
though already conceded to be within the sphere of 
English interests, was yet in truth little known; it was 
utterly wild, full of elephants, giraffes, rhinoceroses, 
buffaloes, and all kinds of antelopes, which the military, 
missionary, and trading expeditions always encountered. 
He also envied Captain Glenn with his whole soul and 
promised to visit him in Mombasa and go hunting with 
him for lions and buffaloes. 

“Good, but I shall invite you to make the visit with 
that little Miss,’”’ replied Captain Glenn, laughing and 
pointing at Nell who at that moment left the window 
and sat beside him. 

“Miss Rawlinson has a father,’”’ answered Stas, 
I am only her guardian during this journey.” 

At this the other officer turned quickly around and 
asked: 

“Rawlinson? Is he not one of the directors of the 
Canal and has he not a brother in Bombay?”’ 

“My uncle lives in Bombay,” answered Nell, raising 
her little finger upwards. 

“Then your uncle, darling, is married to my sister. 
My name is Clary. We are related, and I am really de- 
lighted that I met and became acquainted with you, my 
little dear.” 

And the surgeon was really delighted. He said that 
immediately after his arrival at Port Said he inquired 
for Mr. Rawlinson, but in the offices of the directory he 
was informed that he had left for the holidays. He ex- 
pressed also his regret that the steamer which he with 
Captain Glenn was to take for Mombasa left Suez in a 
few days, in consequence of which he could not make a 
hurried visit to Medinet. 

He smb requested Nell to convey his compliments 


cc 


and 


30 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


to her father, and promised to write to her from Mom- 
basa. Both officers now engaged mainly in a conversation 
with Nell, so that Stas remained a little on the side. At 
all stations they had a plentiful supply of mandarin 
oranges, dates, and exquisite sherbet, and, besides by 
Stas and Nell, these dainties were shared by Dinah, who 
with all her good qualities was known for her uncommon 
gluttony. 

In this manner the trip to Cairo passed quickly for the 
children. At the leave-taking the officers kissed Nell’s 
little hands and face, and squeezed Stas’ right hand, and 
at the same time, Captain Glenn, whom the resolute boy 
pleased very much, said half-jokingly and half-seriously : 

“Listen, my boy! Who knows where, when, and under 
what circumstances we may yet meet in life. Remember, 
however, that you can always rely upon my good will 
and assistance.” 

“And you may likewise rely upon me,” Stas answered 
with a bow full of dignity. 


IV 


Pan TARKOWSKI, as well as Mr. Rawlinson, who loved 
Nell better than his life, was delighted at the arrival of 
the children. The young pair greeted their parents joy- 
fully, and at once began to look about the tents, which 
internally were completely fitted up and were ready for 
the reception of the beloved guests. The tents appeared 
superb to them; they were double, one was lined with 
blue and the other with red flannel, overlaid at the bottom 
with saddle-cloths, and they were as spacious as large 
rooms. The agency which was concerned about the 
opinion of the high officials of the Canal Company had 
spared no effort for their comfort. At first Mr. Rawlinson 
feared that a lengthy stay under tents might prove in- 
jurious to Nell’s health, and if he agreed to the arrange- 
ment, it was because they could always move to a hotel 
in case of bad weather. Now, however, having fully 
investigated everything on the place, he came to the 
conclusion that days and nights passed in the fresh air 
would be a hundredfold more beneficial for his only child 
than a stay in the musty rooms of the small local hotels. 
Beautiful weather favored this. Medinet, or rather 
El-Medineh, surrounded by the sandy hills of the Lib- 
yan Desert, has a much better climate than Cairo and 
is not in vain called “the land of roses.” Owing to 
its sheltered position and the plentiful moisture in the 
air, nights there are not so cold as in other parts of Egypt, 


32 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


even those lying further south. Winter is simply delight- 
ful, and from November the greatest development of the 
vegetation begins. Date palms, olive-trees, which on 
the whole are scarce in Egypt, fig, orange, mandarin 
trees, giant castor-oil plants, pomegranate and various 
other southern plants cover this delightful oasis as with 
a forest. The gardens are overflowing, as it were, with 
a gigantic wave of acacias, elders, and roses, so that at 
night every breeze carries their intoxicating scent. Here 
one breathes with full breast and “does not wish to die,” 
as the residents of the place say. 

A similar climate is possessed only by Helwan lying on 
the other side of the Nile and considerably farther north, 
but Helwan lacks such luxuriant vegetation. 

But Helwan awoke sad recollections for Mr. Rawlinson, 
for there Nell’s mother had died. For this reason he 
preferred Medinet, and gazing at present at the glow- 
ing countenance of the little girl, he promised to himself 
in his soul soon to purchase here land with a garden; to 
erect upon it a comfortable English house and spend 
in these blissful parts all vacations which he could secure, 
and after finishing his service on the Canal, perhaps 
even to reside here permanently. 

But these were plans of the distant future and not 
yet wholly matured. In the meantime the children from 
the moment of their arrival moved about everywhere 
like flies, desiring even before dinner to see all the tents 
as well as the donkeys and camels hired at the place by 
the Cook Agency. It appeared that the animals were 
on a distant pasture and that they could not see them 
until the morrow. However, near Mr. Rawlinson’s tent 
they observed with pleasure Chamis, the son of Chadigi, 
their good acquaintance in Port Said. He was not in 
the employ of Cook, and Mr. Rawlinson was somewhat 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 33 


surprised to meet him in Medinet, but as he had pre- 
viously employed him to carry his implements, he engaged 
him at present to run errands and perform all other small 
services. 

The evening dinner was excellent, as the old Copt, 
who for many years was a cook in the employment of 
the Cook Agency, was anxious to display his culinary 
skill. The children told about the acquaintance they 
made with the two officers on the way, which was par- 
ticularly interesting to Mr. Rawlinson, whose brother 
Richard was married to Dr. Clary’s sister and had resided 
in India for many years. As it was a childless marriage, 
this uncle greatly loved his little niece, whom he knew 
only from photographs, and he had inquired about her 
in all his letters. Both fathers were also amused at the 
invitation which Stas had received from Captain Glenn 
to visit Mombasa. The boy took it seriously and posi- 
tively promised himself that sometime he must pay a visit 
to his new friend beyond the equator. Pan Tarkowski 
then had to explain to him that English officials never 
remain long in the same locality on account of the deadly 
climate of Africa, and that before Stas grew up the captain 
already would hold his tenth position in rotation or would 
not be on earth at all. 

After dinner the whole company went out in front of 
the tents, where the servants placed the cloth folding- 
chairs, and for the older gentlemen brought a siphon of 
soda-water with brandy. It was already night but un- 
usually warm; as there happened to be full moon it was 
as bright as in daytime. The white walls of the city 
buildings opposite the tents shone greenly; the stars 
glowed in the sky, and in the air was diffused the scent 
of roses, acacias, and heliotropes. The city already was 
asleep. In the silence of the night at times could be 


34 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


heard only the loud cries of cranes, herons, and flamingoes 
flying from beyond the Nile in the direction of Lake 
Karun. Suddenly, however, there resounded the deep 
bass bark of a dog which astonished Stas and Nell, for 
it appeared to come from a tent which they had not 
visited and which was assigned for saddles, implements, 
and various traveling paraphernalia. 

“That must be an awfully big dog. Let us go and 
see him,” said Stas. 

Pan Tarkowski began to laugh and Mr. Rawlinson 
shook off the ashes of his cigar and said, also laughing: 

“Well, it did not do any good to lock him up.” 

After which he addressed the children: 

“Remember, to-morrow is Christmas Eve, and that 
dog was intended by Pan Tarkowski to be a surprise 
for Nell, but as the surprise has started to bark, I am 
compelled to announce it to-day.” 

Hearing this, Nell climbed in a trice on Pan Tarkowski’s 
knees and embraced his neck and afterwards jumped onto 
her father’s lap. 

“Papa, how happy I am! how happy I am!” 

Of hugs and kisses there was no end. Finally Nell, 
finding herself on her own feet, began to gaze in Pan 
Tarkowski’s eyes: 

“Pan Tarkowski —”’ 

“What is it, Nell?” 

“__ As I already know that he is there, can I see him 
to-night?” 

“T knew,” exclaimed Mr. Rawlinson, feigning indigna- 
tion, “that this little fly would not be content with the 
news itself.” 

And Pan Tarkowski, turning to the son of Chadigi, said: 

“Chamis, bring the dog.” 

The young Sudanese disappeared behind the kitchen 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 35 


tent and after a while reappeared, leading a big dog by 
the collar. 

Nell retreated. 

“Oh,” she exclaimed, seizing her father’s hand. 

On the other hand, Stas grew enthusiastic. 

“But that is a lion, not a dog,” he said. 

“He is called Saba (lion), answered Pan Tarkowski. 
“He belongs to the breed of mastiffs; these are the biggest 
dogs in the world. This one is only two years old but 
really is exceedingly large. Don’t be afraid, Nell, as he 
is as gentle as a lamb. Only be brave. Let him go, 
Chamis.”’ 

Chamis let go of the collar with which he had re- 
strained the dog, and the latter, feeling that he was free, 
began to wag his tail, fawn before Pan Tarkowski 
with whom he was already well acquainted, and bark 
joyfully. 

The children gazed in the moonlight with admiration 
on his large round head with hanging lips, on his bulky 
paws, on his powerful frame, reminding one, in truth, of a 
lion with the tawny-yellowish color of his body. 

“With such a dog one could safely go through Africa,” 
exclaimed Stas. 

“Ask him whether he could retrieve a rhinoceros,” 
said Pan Tarkowski. 

Saba could not, indeed, answer that question, but instead 
wagged his tail more and more joyfully and drew near 
to the group so ingratiatingly that Nell at once ceased to 
fear him and began to pat him on his head. 

“Saba, nice, dear Saba.” 

Mr. Rawlinson leaned over him, raised his head towards 
the face of the little girl, and said: 

“Saba, look at this little lady. She is your mistress. 
You must obey and guard her. Do you understand?” 


36 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


“Wow!” was the basso response of Saba, as if he ac- 
tually understood what was wanted. 

And he understood even better than might have been 
expected, for taking advantage of the fact that his head 
was on a level with the little girl’s face, as a mark of 
homage he licked her little nose and cheeks with his 
broad tongue. 

This provoked a general outburst of laughter. Nell 
had to go to the tent to wash herself. Returning after 
a quarter of an hour she saw Saba with paws upon the 
shoulders of Stas, who bent under the weight; the dog 
was higher by a head. 

The time for sleep was approaching, but the little one 
asked for yet half an hour of play in order to get better 
acquainted with her new friend. In fact, the acquain- 
tance proceeded so easily that Pan Tarkowski soon placed 
her in lady fashion on Saba’s back and, holding her from 
fear that she might fall, ordered Stas to lead the dog by 
the collar. She rode thus a score of paces, after which 
Stas tried to mount this peculiar “saddle-horse,” but 
the dog sat on his hind legs so that Stas unexpectedly 
found himself on the sand near the tail. 

The children were about to retire when in the distance 
on the market place, illumined by the moon, appeared 
two white figures walking towards the tents. 

The hitherto gentle Saba began to growl hollowly and 
threateningly so that Chamis, at Mr. Rawlinson’s order, 
again had to take hold of the collar, and in the mean- 
time two men dressed in white burnooses stood before the 
tent. 

“Who is there?” asked Pan Tarkowski. 

“Camel drivers,’’ answered one of the arrivals. 

“ Ah, Idris and Gebhr? What do you want?” 

“We come to ask whether you will need us to-morrow.” 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 37 


“No. To-morrow and the day after are great holidays, 
during which it is not proper to make excursions. Come 
on the morning of the third day.” 

“Thank you, effendi.”’ 

“Have you good camels?’”’ asked Mr. Rawlinson. 

“ Bismillah!’”? answered Idris; “real saddle-horses with 
fat humps and as gentle as ha’-ga (lambs). Otherwise 
Cook would not have employed us.” 

“Do they jolt much?” 

“Gentlemen, you can place a handful of kidney-beans 
on their backs and not a grain will fall during the fullest 
speed.” 

“Tf one is to exaggerate, then exaggerate after the 
Arabian fashion,” said Pan Tarkowski, laughing. 

“Or after the Sudanese,” added Mr. Rawlinson. 

In the meantime Idris and Gebhr continued to stand 
like two white columns, gazing attentively at Stas and 
Nell. The moon illumined their very dark faces, and 
in its luster they looked as if cast of bronze. The whites 
of their eyes glittered greenishly from under the turbans. 

“Good night to you,” said Mr. Rawlinson. 

“May Allah watch over you, effendi, in night and in 
day.” 

Saying this, they bowed and went away. They were 
accompanied by a hollow growl, similar to distant thunder, 
from Saba, whom the two Sudanese apparently did not 
please. 


V 


Durine the following days there were no excursions. 
Instead, on Christmas Eve, when the first star appeared 
in heaven, a little tree in Mr. Rawlinson’s tent, intended 
for Nell, was illuminated with hundreds of candles. To 
serve as a Christmas tree there had been taken an arbor 
vitae, cut in one of the gardens in Medinet; neverthe- 
less, among its branchlets Nell found a profusion of dainties 
and a splendid doll, which her father had brought from 
Cairo for her, and Stas, his much desired English short 
rifle. In addition he received from his father packages 
containing various hunters’ supplies, and a saddle for 
horseback riding. Nell could not contain herself for joy, 
while Stas, although he thought that whoever owned a 
genuine short rifle ought to possess a corresponding 
dignity, could not restrain himself, and selecting the 
time when no one was about, walked around the tent 
on his hands. This knack, taught to him at the Port 
Said school, he possessed to a surprising degree and with it 
often amused Nell, who, besides, sincerely envied it in him. 

Christmas Eve and the first day of the holidays were 
passed by the children partly in church services, partly 
in inspecting the gifts they had received, and in training 
Saba. The new friend appeared to possess intelligence be- 
yond all expectations. On the very first day he learned to 
give his paw, retrieve handkerchiefs, which, however, he 
would not surrender without some resistance, and he under- 
stood that cleaning Nell’s face with his tongue was an act 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 39 


unworthy of a gentlemanly dog. Nell, holding her fingers 
at her little nose, gave him various instructions, while 
he, concurring with motions of his tail, gave her in this 
manner to understand that he heard with becoming 
attention and took her lessons to heart. During their 
strolls over the sandy city square the fame of Saba in 
Medinet grew with each hour and, even as all fame, began 
to have its disagreeable side, for it drew a whole swarm of 
Arabian children. In the beginning they kept at a dis- 
tance; afterwards, however, emboldened by the gentle- 
ness of the “monster,” they approached more and more 
closely, and in the end sat around the tent so that no one 
could move about with any freedom. Besides, as every 
Arabian child sucks sugar-cane from morning to night, 
the children always attract after them legions of flies, 
which besides being loathsome are noxious, for they 
spread the Egyptian infection of inflammation of the 
eyes. For this reason the servants attempted to disperse 
the children, but Nell stood in their defense and, what is 
more, distributed among the youngest “helou,”’ that 
is, sweetmeats, which gained for her their great love but 
also increased their number. 

After three days the joint excursions began; partly on 
the narrow-gauge railways of which the English had 
built quite a number in Medinet el-Fayiim, partly on 
donkeys, and sometimes on camels. It appeared that 
in' the praises bestowed on those animals by Idris there 
was indeed a great deal of exaggeration, for not merely 
kidney-beans but even people could not easily keep on 
the saddles; but there was also some truth. The camels 
in reality belonged to the variety known as “hegin,” that 
is, for carrying passengers, and were fed with good durra 
(the local or Syrian maize) so that the humps were fat and 
they appeared so willing to speed that it was necessary 


40 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


to check them. The Sudanese, Idris and Gebhr, gained, 
notwithstanding the wild glitter of their eyes, the con- 
fidence and hearts of the company, and this through their 
great willingness to serve and their extraordinary care 
over Nell. Gebhr always had a cruel and a trifle bestial 
expression of face, but Idris, quickly perceiving that that 
little personage was the eye in the head of the whole 
company, declared at every opportunity that he cared 
more for her than for his own soul. Mr. Rawlinson con- 
jectured indeed, that, through Nell, Idris wanted to reach | 
his pocket, but believing at the same time that there 
was not in the world a person who could not but love 
his only child, he was grateful to him and did not stint 
himself in giving “bakshish.”’ 

In the course of five days the party visited the near by 
ruins of the ancient city of Crocodilopolis, where at one 
time the Egyptians worshipped a deity called Sobk, which 
had a human form with the head of a crocodile. After- 
wards an excursion was made to the Hanar pyramids 
and the remains of the Labyrinth. The longest trip was 
on camel-back to Lake Karun. Its northern shore was a 
stark desert, on which there were ruins of former Egyptian 
cities, but no trace of life. On the other hand, on the 
southern shore stretched a fertile country, magnificent, 
with shores overgrown by heather and reeds and teeming 
with pelicans, flamingoes, herons, wild geese, and ducks. 
Only here did Stas find an opportunity for displaying his 
marksmanship. The shooting from a common rifle as 
well as from the short rifle was so extraordinary that 
after every shot could be heard the astonished smacking 
of the lips of Idris and the Arabian rowers, and the falling 
of the birds into the water was accompanied by exclama- 
tions of “ Bismillah” and “ Mashallah.” 

The Arabians assured them that on the opposite desert- 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 41 


shore were many wolves and hyenas, and that by tossing 
amid the sand dunes the carcass of a sheep one might get 
within shooting range. In consequence of these assur- 
ances Pan Tarkowski and Stas passed two nights on 
the desert near the ruins of Dima. But the first sheep 
was stolen by Bedouins as soon as the hunters left it; 
while the second lured only a lame jackal, which Stas 
brought down. Further hunting had to be postponed 
as the time had arrived for both engineers to inspect 
the works conducted at Bahr Yisuf near El-Lahfin, south- 
east from Medinet. 

Mr. Rawlinson waited only for the arrival of Madame 
Olivier. Unfortunately, in place of her, came a letter 
from the physician informing them that the former ery- 
sipelas in the face had recurred after the bite, and that 
the patient for a long time would be unable to leave Port 
Said. The situation actually became distressing. It 
was impossible to take with them the children, old Dinah, 
the tents, and all the servants, if only for the reason that 
the engineers were to be one day here, another there, and 
might receive requests to go as far as the great canal of 
Ibrahimiyeh. In view of this, after a short consultation 
Mr. Rawlinson decided to leave Nell under the care of 
old Dinah and Stas, together with the Italian consular 
agent and the local “Mudir” (governor) with whom he 
had previously become acquainted. He promised also 
to Nell, who grieved to part from her father, that from 
all the nearer localities he would with Pan Tarkowski 
rush to Medinet, or if they found some noteworthy sight, 
would summon the children to them. 

“We shall take with us, Chamis,” he said, “whom in a 
certain case we shall send for you. Let Dinah always 
keep Nell’s company, but as Nell does with her whatever 
she pleases, do you, Stas, watch over both.” 


42 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


“You may be sure, sir,” answered Stas, “that I shall 
watch over Nell, as over my own sister. She has Saba, 
and I a short rifle, so let any one try to harm her —”’ 

“Tt is not about that that I am concerned,” said Mr. 
Rawlinson. “Saba and the short rifle will certainly not 
be necessary for you. You will be so good as to protect 
her from fatigue and at the same time take care she does 
not catch cold. I have asked the consul in case she feels 
unwell to summon a doctor from Cairo immediately. 
We shall send Chamis here for news as frequently as 
possible. The Mudir will also visit you. I expect, besides, 
that our absence will never be very long.” 

Pan Tarkowski also was not sparing in his admonitions 
to Stas. He told him that Nell did not require his defense 
as there was not in Medinet nor in the whole province of 
El-Fayum any savage people or wild animals. To think 
of such things would be ridiculous and unworthy of a 
boy who had begun his fourteenth year. So he was to be 
solicitous and heedful only that they did not undertake 
anything on their own account, and more particularly 
excursions with Nell on camels, on which a ride was 
fatiguing. 

But Nell, hearing this, made such a sad face that Pan 
Tarkowski had to placate her. 

“Certainly,” he said, stroking her hair, “you will ride 
camels, but with us or towards us, if we send Chamis for 
you.” | 

“But when alone are we not allowed to make an ex- 
cursion, even though such a tiny bit of a one?” asked 
the girl. 

And she began to show on her finger about how little 
an excursion she was concerned. The parents in the 
end agreed that they could ride on donkeys, not on camels, 
and not to ruins, where they might easily fall into some 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 43 


hole, but over roads of adjacent fields and towards the 
gardens beyond the city. The dragoman, together with 
other Cook servants, was always to accompany the 
children. 

After this both gentlemen departed, but they left 
for a place near by, Hanaret el-Matka, so that after 
ten hours they returned to pass the night in Medinet. 
This was repeated the succeeding few days until they had 
inspected all the nearest work. Afterwards, when their 
employment required their presence at more distant 
places, Chamis arrived in the night time, and early in 
the following morning took Stas and Nell to those little 
cities, in which their parents wanted to show them some- 
thing of interest. The children spent the greater part 
of the day with their parents and before sunset returned 
to the camp at Medinet. There were, however, days on 
which Chamis did not come, and then Nell, notwith- 
standing the society of Stas, and Saba in whom she con- 
tinually discovered some new traits, looked with longing 
for a messenger. In this manner the time passed until 
Twelfth Night, on the day of which festival both engineers 
returned to Medinet. 

Two days later they went away again, announcing 
that they left this time for a longer period and in all prob- 
ability would reach as far as Benisueif, and from there 
to El-Fachn, where a canal of the same name begins, 
going far south alongside of the Nile. 

Great, therefore, was the astonishment of the children, 
when on the third day at eleven o’clock in the morning 
Chamis appeared in Medinet. Stas met him first as he 
went to the pasturage to look at the camels. Chamis 
conversed with Idris, and only told Stas that he came 
for him and Nell and that he would come immediately 
to the camp to inform them where they, at the request 


at IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


of the older gentlemen, were to go. Stas ran at once with 
the good news to Nell, whom he found playing with Saba 
before the tent. 

“Do you know —Chamis is here!” he cried from 
a distance. 

And Nell began at once to hop, holding both feet to- 
gether, as little girls do when skipping the rope. 

“We shall go! We shall go!” . 

“Yes. We shall go, and far.” 

“Where?” she asked, brushing aside with her little 
hands a tuft of hair which fell over her eyes. 

“T don’t know. Chamis said that in a moment he 
would come here and tell us.” 

“How do you know it is far?”’ 

“Because I heard Idris say that he and Gebhr would 
start at once with the camels. That means that we shall 
go by rail and shall find the camels at the place where 
our parents will be, and from there we shall make some 
kind of an excursion.” 

The tuft of hair, owing to the continual hops, covered 
again not only Nell’s eyes but her whole face, her feet 
bounding as if they were made of India rubber. 

A quarter of an hour later, Chamis came and bowed 
to both. : 

“Khanage (young master),” he said, “we leave after 
three hours by the first train.” 

“Where are we going?” 

“To Gharak el-Sultani, and from there with the older 
gentlemen on camel-back to Wadi Rayan.” 

Stas’ heart beat with joy, but at the same time Chamis’ 
words surprised him. He knew that Wadi Rayan was 
a great valley among sandy hills rising on the Libyan 
Desert on the south and southwest of Medinet, while 
on the other hand Pan Tarkowski and Mr. Rawlinson 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 45 


announced on their departure that they were going in a 
directly opposite direction, towards the Nile. 

“What has happened?” asked Stas. “Then my 
father and Mr. Rawlinson are not in Benisueif but in 
El-Gharak?”’ 

“Tt happened thus,” replied Chamis. 

“But they ordered us to write to them at El-Fachn.” 

“In a letter the senior effendi explains why they are 
in El-Gharak.”’ 

And for a while he searched on his person for the letter, 
after which he exclaimed: 

“Oh, Nabi! (prophet) I left the letter in a pouch with 
the camels. I will run at once before Idris and Gebhr 
depart.” 

And he ran towards the camels. In the meantime the 
children, with Dinah, began to prepare for the journey. 
As it looked as if the excursion would be a long one, 
Dinah packed several dresses, some linen, and warmer 
clothing for Nell. Stas thought of himself, and especially 
did not forget about the short rifle and cartridges, hoping 
that among the sand dunes of Wadi Rayan he might 
encounter wolves and hyenas. 

Chamis did not return until an hour later; he was 
covered with perspiration and so fatigued that for a while 
he could not catch his breath. 

“‘T did not find the camels,” he said. “I chased after 
them, but in vain. But that does not matter as we shall 
find the letter and the effendis themselves in El-Gharak. 
Is Dinah to go with you?” 

“Why not?” 

“Perhaps it would be better if she remained. The 
older gentlemen said nothing about her.” 

“But they announced on leaving that Dinah was always 
to accompany the little lady. So she shall ride now.” 


46 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


Chamis bowed, placing his hand on his heart and said: 

“Let us hasten, sir, for otherwise the katr (train) will 
set off.” 

The baggage was ready, so they were at the station on 
time. The distance between Medinet and Gharak is not 
more than nineteen miles, but the trains on the branch 
line which connects those localities move slowly and the 
stops were uncommonly frequent. If Stas had been 
alone he undoubtedly would have preferred to ride 
camel-back as he calculated that Idris and Gebhr, having 
started two hours before the train, would be earlier in 
El-Gharak. But for Nell such a ride would be too long; 
and the little guardian, who took very much to heart 
the warnings of both parents, did not want to expose 
the little girl to fatigue. After all the time passed for 
both so quickly that they scarcely noticed when they 
stopped in Gharak. 

The little station, from which Englishmen usually 
make excursions to Wadi Ray4én, was almost entirely 
deserted. They found only a few veiled women, with 
baskets of mandarin oranges, two unknown Bedouin 
camel drivers, together with Idris and Gebhr, with seven 
camels, one of which was heavily packed. Of Pan Tar- 
kowski and Mr. Rawlinson there was no trace. 

But Idris in this manner explained their absence. 

“The older gentlemen went into the desert to pitch 
the tents which they brought with them from Etsah, 
and ordered us to follow them.” 

“And how shall we find them among the sand-hills?” 
asked Stas. 

“They sent guides who will lead us to them.” 

Saying this he pointed to the Bedouins. The older 
of them bowed, rubbed with his finger the one eye which 
he possessed, and said: 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 47 


“Our camels are not so fat but are not less speedy 
than yours. After an hour we shall be there.” 

Stas was glad that he would pass the night on the 
desert, but Nell felt a certain disappointment, for she 
had been certain that she would meet her papa in Gharak. 

In the meantime the station-master, a sleepy Egyptian 
with a red fez and dark spectacles, approached them, 
and, not having anything else to do, began to stare at the 
European children. 

“These are the children of those Englishmen who rode 
this morning with rifles to the desert,” said Idris, placing 
Nell on the saddle. 

Stas, handing his short rifle to Chamis, sat beside 
her, for the saddle was wide and had the shape of a palan- 
quin without a roof. Dinah sat behind Chamis, the others 
took separate camels, and the party started. 

If the station-master had stared at them longer he 
might perhaps have wondered that those Englishmen, 
of whom Idris spoke, rode directly to the ruins on the 
south, while this party at once directed its movements 
towards Talei, in a different direction. But the station- 
master before that time had returned home as no other 
train arrived that day at Gharak. 

The hour was five in the afternoon. The weather 
was splendid. The sun had already passed on that side 
of the Nile and declined over the desert, sinking into 
the golden and purple twilight glowing on the western 
side of the sky. The atmosphere was so permeated with 
the roseate luster that the eyes blinked from its super- 
fluity. The fields assumed a lily tint, while the distant 
sand-hills, strongly relieved against the background of 
the twilight, had a hue of pure amethyst. The world 
lost the traits of reality and appeared to be one play of 
supernal lights. 


48 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


While they rode over a verdant and cultivated region, 
the guide, a Bedouin, conducted the caravan with a 
moderate pace. But with the moment that the hard 
sand creaked under the feet of the camels, everything 
changed. 

“Yalla! Yalla!’’ suddenly yelled wild voices. 

And simultaneously could be heard the swish of whips 
and the camels, having changed from an ambling pace 
into a full gallop, began to speed like the whirlwind, 
throwing up with their feet the sand and gravel of the 
desert. 

eYallal Yallals7 

The ambling pace of a camel jolts more, while the gallop 
with which this animal seldom runs, swings more; so 
the children enjoyed this mad ride. But it is known that 
even in a swing, too much rapid movement causes dizzi- 
ness. Accordingly, after a certain time, when the speed 
did not cease, Nell began to get dizzy and her eyes grew dim. 

“Stas, why are we flying so?” she exclaimed, turning 
to her companion. 

“T think that they allowed them to get into too much 
of a gallop and now cannot check them,” answered Stas. 

But observing that the little girl’s face was becoming 
pale, he shouted at the Bedouins, running ahead, to 
slacken their pace. His calls, however, had only this result: 
that again resounded the cries of “ aes and the animals 
increased their speed. 

The boy thought at first that the Peden did not 
hear him, but when on his repeated orders there was no 
response and when Gebhr, who was riding behind him, 
did not cease lashing the camel on which he sat with 
Nell, he thought it was not the camels that were so spirited 
but that the men for some reason unknown to him were 
in a great hurry. 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 49 


It occurred to him that they might have taken the wrong 
road and that, desiring to make up for lost time, they 
now were speeding from fear that the older gentlemen 
might scold them because of a late arrival. But after a 
while he understood that such could not be the case, as 
Mr. Rawlinson would have been more angered for un- 
necessarily fatiguing Nell. Then what did it mean? And 
why did they not obey his commands? In the heart of the 
boy anger and fear for Nell began to rise. 

“Stop!” he shouted with his whole strength, addressing 
Gebhr. 

“Ouskout! (be silent)!” the Sudanese yelled in reply; 
and they sped on. 

In Egypt night falls about six o’clock, so the twilight 
soon became extinct and after a certain time the great 
moon, ruddy from the reflection of the twilight, rolled 
on and illuminated the desert with a gentle light. 

In the silence could be heard only the heavy breathing 
of the camels, the rapid hoof-beats on the sand, and at 
times the swish of whips. Nell was so tired that Stas had 
to hold her on the saddle. Every little while she asked 
how soon they would reach their destination, and evi- 
dently was buoyed up only by the hope of an early meeting 
with her father. But in vain both children gazed around. 
One hour passed, then another; neither tents nor camp- 
fires could be seen. 

Then the hair rose on Stas’ head, for he realized that 
they were kidnapped. 


VI 


Messrs. Rawiinson and Tarkowski actually expected 
the children, not amidst the sand-hills of Wadi Rayan, 
where they had no need or desire to ride, but in an en- 
tirely different direction, in the city of El-Fachn on a 
canal of the same name at which they were examining the 
work finished before the end of the year. The distance 
between El-Fachn and Medinet in a straight line is 
almost twenty-eight miles. As, however, there is no direct 
connection and it is necessary to ride to El-Wasta, which 
doubles the distance, Mr. Rawlinson, after looking over 
the railway guide, made the following calculations. 

“Chamis left the night before last,” he said to Pan 
Tarkowski, “and in El-Wasta he caught the train from 
Cairo; he was therefore in Medinet yesterday. It would 
take an hour to pack up. Leaving at noon they would 
have to wait for the night train running along the Nile, 
and as I do not permit Nell to ride at night, they would 
leave this morning and will be here immediately after 
sunset.” 

“Yes,” said Pan Tarkowski, “Chamis must rest a 
little, and though Stas is indeed impulsive, nevertheless, 
where Nell is concerned you may always depend upon 
him. Moreover, I sent him a postal card not to ride 
during the night.” 

“A brave lad, and I trust him,” answered Mr. Raw- 
linson. 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 51 


“To tell the truth, so do I. Stas with his various faults 
has an upright character and never lies, for he is brave, 
and only a coward lies. He also does not lack energy 
and if in time he acquires a calm judgment, I think he 
will be able to take care of himself in this world.” 

“Certainly. As to judgment, were you judicious at 
his age?”’ 

“T must confess that I was not,” replied Pan Tarkowski, 
laughing, “but I was not so self-confident as he.” 

“That will pass. Meanwhile, be happy that you have 
such a boy.” 

“And you that you have such a sweet and dear creature 
as Nell.” 

“May God bless her!”’ answered Mr. Rawlinson with 
emotion. 

The two friends warmly shook hands, after which 
they sat down to examine the plans and the report of 
expenditures connected with the work. At this occu- 
pation the time passed until evening. 

About six o’clock, when night fell, they were at the 
station, strolling along the walk, and resumed their con- 
versation about the children. 

“Superb weather, but cool,” said Mr. Rawlinson. “I 
wonder if Nell took some warm clothing with her.” 

“Stas will think of that, and Dinah also.” 

“T regret, nevertheless, that instead of bringing them 
here, we did not go to Medinet.” 

“You will recollect that that is just what I advised.” 

“T know, and if it were not that we are to go from here 
farther south, I would have agreed. I calculated, however, 
that the trip would take too much time and on the whole 
it would be best to have the children here. Finally, I 
will confess to you that Chamis suggested the idea to 
me. He announced that he prodigiously yearned for 


52 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


them and would be happy if I sent for both. I am not 
surprised that he should be so attached to them.” 

Further conversation was interrupted by signals an- 
nouncing the approach of the train. After an interval 
the fiery eyes of the locomotive appeared in the darkness, 
and at the same time could be heard its puffs and 
whistle. 

A row of lighted coaches drew alongside the platform, 
quivered, and stood still. 

“IT did not see them in any window,” said Mr. 
Rawlinson. 

“Perhaps they are seated further inside and surely 
will come out immediately.” 

The passengers began to alight, but they were mainly 
Arabs, as El-Fachn has nothing interesting to see except 
beautiful groves of palms and acacias. The children did 
not arrive. 

“Chamis either did not make connections in El-Wasta,”’ 
declared Pan Tarkowski, with a shade of ill-humor, “or 
after a night of travel overslept himself, and they will 
not arrive until to-morrow.” 

“That may be,’ answered Mr. Rawlinson, with un- 
easiness, “but it also may be possible that one of them 
is sick.” 

“In that case Stas would have telegraphed.” 

“Who knows but that we may find a despatch in the 
hotel?” 

“Let us go.” 

But in the hotel no news awaited them. Mr. Raw- 
linson became more and more uneasy. 

“What do you think could have happened?” said 
Pan Tarkowski. “If Chamis overslept himself, he would 
not admit it to the children and would come to them 
to-day and tell them that they are to leave to-morrow. 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 53 


To us he will excuse himself by claiming that he mis- 
understood our orders. In any event, I shall telegraph 
to Stas.” 

“And I to the Mudir of Fayfim.” 

After a while the despatches were sent. There was 
indeed no cause for uneasiness; nevertheless, in waiting 
for an answer the engineers passed a bad night, and early 
morning found them on their feet. 

The answer from the Mudir came about ten o’clock 
and was as follows: 

“Verified at station. Children left yesterday for 
Gharak el-Sultani.” 

It can easily be understood what amazement and anger 
possessed the parents at this unexpected intelligence. 
For some time they gazed at each other, as if they did 
not understand the words of the despatch; after which 
Pan Tarkowski, who was an impulsive person, struck the 
table with his hand and said: 

“That was Stas’ whim, but I will cure him of such 
whims.” 

“T did not expect that of him,” answered Nell’s father. 

But after a moment he asked: 

“But what of Chamis?”’ 

“He either did not find them and does not know what 
to do or else rode after them.” 

“Yes, I think so.” 

An hour later they started for Medinet. In camp 
they ascertained that the camels were gone, and at the 
station it was confirmed that Chamis left with the children 
for El-Gharak. The affair became darker and darker 
and it could be cleared up only in El-Gharak. 

In fact, only at that station did the dreadful truth begin 
to dawn. 

The station-master, the same sleepy one with dark 


54 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


spectacles and red fez, told them that he saw a boy 
about fourteen years old and an eight-year-old girl with 
an old negress, who rode towards the desert. He did 
not remember whether there were eight or nine camels 
altogether, but observed that one was heavily packed 
as if for a long journey, and the two Bedouins also 
had big pack-saddles. He recollected also that when 
he stared at the caravan one of the camel drivers, 
a Sudanese, said to him that those were the children 
of the Englishmen who before that had gone to Wadi 
Rayan. 

“Did those Englishmen return?” asked Pan Tarkowski. 

“Yes. They returned yesterday with two slain wolves,” 
answered the station-master; “and I was astonished 
that they did not return with the children. But I did not 
ask the reason as that was not my affair.” 

Saying this he left to attend to his duties. 

During this narrative Mr. Rawlinson’s face became 
white as paper. Gazing at his friend with a wild look, he 
took off his hat, pressed his hand to his forehead, covered 
with perspiration, and staggered as if he were about to 
fall. | 

“Be a man, Rawlinson!” exclaimed Pan Tarkowski. 
“Our children are kidnapped. It is necessary to rescue 
them.” 

“Nell! Nell!” repeated the unhappy Englishman. 

“Nell and Stas! It was not Stas’ fault. Both were 
enticed by trickery and kidnapped. Who knows why? 
Perhaps for a ransom. Chamis undoubtedly is in the plot, 
and Idris and Gebhr also.” 

Here he recalled what Fatma had said about both 
Sudanese belonging to the Dongolese tribe, in which the 
Mahdi was born, and that Chadigi, the father of Chamis, 
came from the same tribe. At this recollection his heart 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 55 


for a moment became inert in his breast for he under- 
stood that the children were abducted not for a ransom 
but as an exchange for Smain’s family. 

“But what will the tribesmen of the ill-omened prophet 
do with them? They cannot hide them on the desert 
or anywhere on the banks of the Nile, for they all would 
die of hunger and thirst on the desert, and they certainly 
would be apprehended on the Nile. Perhaps they will 
try to join the Mahdi.” 

And this thought filled Pan Tarkowski with dismay, 
but the energetic ex-soldier soon recovered and began 
in his mind to review all that happened and at the same 
time seek means of rescue. 

“Fatma,” he reasoned, “had no cause to revenge 
herself either upon us or our children. If they have been 
kidnapped it was evidently for the purpose of placing 
them in the hands of Smain. In no case does death 
threaten them. And this is a fortune in misfortune; 
still a terrible journey awaits them which might be dis- 
astrous for them.”’ 

And at once he shared these thoughts with his friend, 
after which he spoke thus: 

“Tdris and Gebhr, like savage and foolish men, imagine 
that followers of the Mahdi are not far, while Khartim, 
which the Mahdi reached, is about one thousand two hun- 
dred and forty miles from here. This journey they must 
make along the Nile and not keep at a distance from it 
as otherwise the camels and people would perish from 
thirst. Ride at once to Cairo and demand of the Khe- 
dive that despatches be sent to all the military outposts 
and that a pursuit be organized right and left along the 
river. Offer a large reward to the sheiks near the banks 
for the capture of the fugitives. In the villages let all 
be detained who approach for water. In this manner 


06 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


Idris and Gebhr must fall into the hands of the authori- 
ties and we shall recover the children.” 

Mr. Rawlinson had already recovered his composure. 

“T shall go,” he said. “Those miscreants forgot that 
Wolseley’s English army, hurrying to Gordon’s relief, 
is already on the way and will cut them off from the 
Mahdi. They will not escape. They cannot escape. 
I shall send a despatch to our minister in a moment, and 
afterwards go myself. What do you intend to do?” 

“T shall telegraph for a furlough, and not waiting for 
an answer, shall follow their trail by way of the Nile to 
Nubia, to attend to the pursuit.” 

“Then we shall meet, as from Cairo I shall do the 
same.” 

“Good! And now to work!” 

“With God’s help!” answered Mr. Rawlinson. 


Vil 


In the meantime the camels swept like a hurricane over 
the sands glistening in the moonlight. A deep night 
fell. The moon, at the beginning as big as a wheel and 
ruddy, became pale and rolled on high. The distant 
desert hills were enveloped with silvery vapors like muslin 
which, not veiling their view, transformed them as if into 
luminous. phenomena. From time to time from beyond 
the rocks scattered here and there came the piteous 
whining of jackals. 

Another hour passed. Stas held Nell in his arms and 
supported her, endeavoring in this way to allay the 
fatiguing jolts of the mad ride. The little girl began 
more and more frequently to ask him why they were 
speeding so and why they did not see the tents and their 
papas. Stas finally determined to tell her the truth, which 
sooner or later he would have to disclose. 

“Nell,” he said, “‘pull off a glove and drop it, unob- 
served, on the ground.” 

“Why, Stas?” 

And he pressed her to himself and answered with a 
kind of tenderness unusual to him: 

“Do what I tell you.” 

Nell held Stas with one hand and feared to let him go, 
but she overcame the difficulty in this manner: she began 
to pull the glove with her teeth, each finger separately, 
and, finally taking it off entirely, she dropped it on the 
ground. 


58 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


“After a time, throw the other,” again spoke Stas. 
“T already have dropped mine, but yours will be easier 
to observe for they are bright.” 

And observing that the little girl gazed at him with 
an inquiring look, he continued: 

“Don’t get frightened, Nell. It may be that we 
will not meet your or my father at all — and that these 
foul people have kidnapped us. But don’t fear — for 
if it is so, then pursuers will follow them. They will over- 
take them and surely rescue us. I told you to drop the 
gloves so that the pursuers may find clews. In the mean- 
while we can do nothing, but later I shall contrive some- 
thing — Surely, I shall contrive something; only do 
not fear, and trust me.” 

But Nell, learning that she should not see her papa 
and that they are flying somewhere, far in the desert, be- 
gan to tremble from fright and cry, clinging at the same 
time close to Stas and asking him amid her sobs why they 
kidnapped them and where they were taking them. He 
comforted her as well as he could — almost in the same 
words with which his father comforted Mr. Rawlinson. 
He said that their parents themselves would follow in 
pursuit and would notify all the garrisons along the Nile. 
In the end he assured her that whatever might happen, 
he would never abandon her and would always defend 
her. 

But her grief and longing for her father were stronger 
even than fear; so for a long time she did not cease to 
weep — and thus they flew, both sad, on a bright night, 
over the pale sands of the desert. 

Sorrow and fear not only oppressed Stas’ heart, but 
also shame. He was not indeed to blame for what had 
happened, yet he recalled the former boastfulness for 
which his father so often had rebuked him. Formerly 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 59 


he. was convinced that there was no situation to which 
he was not equal; he considered himself a kind of un- 
vanquished swashbuckler, and was ready to challenge 
the whole world. Now he understood that he was a small 
boy, with whom everybody could do as he pleased, and 
that he was speeding in spite of his will on a camel merely 
because that camel was driven from behind by a half- 
savage Sudanese. He felt terribly humiliated and did 
not see any way of resisting. He had to admit to him- 
self that he plainly feared those men and the desert, 
and what he and Nell might meet. 

He promised sincerely not only to her but to himself 
that he would watch over and defend her even at the 
cost of his own life. 

Nell, weary with weeping and the mad ride, which 
had lasted already six hours, finally began to doze, and 
at times fell asleep. Stas, knowing that whoever fell 
from a galloping camel might be killed on the spot, tied 
her to himself with a rope which he found on the saddle. 
But after some time it seemed to him that the speed of 
the camels became less rapid, though now they flew over 
smooth and soft sands. In the distance could be seen 
only the shifting hills, while on the plain began the noc- 
turnal illusions common to the desert. The moon shone 
in the heaven more and more palely and in the mean- 
time there appeared before them, creeping low, strange 
rosy clouds, entirely transparent, woven only from light. 
They formed mysteriously and moved ahead as if pushed 
by the light breeze. Stas saw how the burnooses of the 
Bedouins and the camels became roseate when they 
rode into that illuminated space, and afterwards the 
whole caravan was enveloped in a delicate, rosy luster. 
At times the clouds assumed an azure hue and thus it 
continued until the hills were reached. 


60 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


Near the hills the speed of the camels slackened yet 
more. All about could be seen rocks protruding from 
sandy knolls or strewn in wild disorder amidst the sand 
dunes. The ground became stony. They crossed a few 
hollows, sown with stone and resembling the dried-up beds 
of rivers. At times their road was barred by ravines about 
which they had to make a detour. The animals began 
to step carefully, moving their legs with precision as if in 
a dance, among the dry and hard bushes formed by roses 
of Jericho with which the dunes and rocks were abundantly 
covered. Time and again some of the camels would 
stumble and it was apparent that it was due to them to 
give them rest. 

Accordingly the Bedouins stopped in a sunken pass, 
and dismounting from the saddles, proceeded to untie 
the packs. Idris and Gebhr followed their example. 
They began to attend to the camels, to loosen the saddle- 
girths, remove the supplies of provisions, and seek flat 
stones on which to build a fire. There was no wood or 
dried dung, which Arabs use, but Chamis, son of Chadigi, 
plucked roses of Jericho and built of them a big pile to 
which he set fire. For some time, while the Sudanese 
were engaged with the camels, Stas and Nell and her 
nurse, old Dinah, found themselves together, somewhat 
apart. But Dinah was more frightened than the children 
and could not say a word. She only wrapped Nell in a 
warm plaid and sitting close to her began with a moan 
to kiss her little hands. Stas at once asked Chamis the 
meaning of what had happened, but he, laughing, only 
displayed his white teeth, and went to gather more roses 
of Jericho. Idris, questioned afterwards, answered with 
these words: “You will see!” and threatened him with 
his finger. When the fire of roses, which smoldered more 
than blazed, finally glowed they all surrounded it in a circle, 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 61 


except Gebhr who remained with the camels, and they 
began to eat cakes of maize, and dried mutton and goats’ 
meat. The children, famished by the long journey, also 
ate, though at the same time Nell’s eyes were closed by 
sleepiness. But in the meantime, in the faint light of 
the fire, appeared dark-skinned Gebhr and with glitter- 
ing eyes he held up two bright little gloves and asked: 

“Whose are these?” 

“Mine,” answered Nell with a sleepy and tired 
voice. 

“Yours, little viper?” the Sudanese hissed through 
set teeth. “Then you mark the road so that your father 
can know where to pursue us.” 

Saying this, he struck her with a courbash, a terrible 
Arabian whip, which cuts even the hide of a camel. Nell, 
though she was wrapped in a thick plaid, shrieked from 
pain and fright, but Gebhr was unable to strike her a 
second time, for at that moment Stas leaped like a wild- 
cat, butted Gebhr’s breast with his head, and afterwards 
clutched him by the throat. 

It happened so unexpectedly that the Sudanese fell 
upon his back and Stas on top of him, and both began 
to roll on the ground. The boy was exceptionally strong 
for his age, nevertheless Gebhr soon overcame him. He 
first pulled his hands from his throat, after which he 
turned him over with face to the ground and, pressing 
heavily on his neck with his fist, he began to lash his 
back with the courbash. 

The shrieks and tears of Nell, who seizing the hand of 
the savage at the same time begged him “to forgive” 
Stas, would not have availed if Idris had not unexpectedly 
come to the boy’s assistance. He was older than Gebhr 
and from the beginning of the flight from Gharak el-Sultani 
all complied with his orders. Now he snatched the cour- 


62 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


bash from his brother’s hand and, pushing him away, 
exclaimed: 

“ Away, you fool!” 

“T’ll flog that scorpion!” answered Gebhr, gnashing 
his teeth. 

But at this, Idris seized his cloak at the breast and 
gazing into his eyes began to say in a threatening though 
quiet voice: 

“The noble! Fatma forbade us to do any harm to those 
children, for they interceded for her —”’ 

“T’ll flog him!” iterated Gebhr. 

“And I tell you that you shall not raise the courbash 
at either of them. If you do, for every blow, I shall give 
you ten.” 

And he began to shake him like a bough of a palm, 
after which he thus continued: 

“Those children are the property of Smain and if either 
of them does not reach him alive, the Mahdi himself 
(May God prolong his days infinitely!) would command 
you to be hung. Do you understand, you fool?” 

The name of the Mahdi created such a great impression 
upon all his believers that Gebhr drooped his head at once 
and began to repeat as if with fear: 

“Allah akbar! Allah akbar!” ? 

Stas rose, panting and whipped, but felt that if his 
- father could have seen and heard him at that moment he 
would have been proud of him, for he had not only leaped 
to save Nell, without thinking, but now, though the blows 
of the courbash burnt him like fire, he did not think of 
his own pain but instead began to console and ask the 
little girl whether the blow had injured her. 


1 All relatives of the Mahdi were termed ‘‘ noble.” eee 
2 This cry means, ‘God is great’; but Arabs utter it in 
moments of fear, summoning aid. 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 63 


And afterwards he said: 

“Whatever I got, I got, but he will never attack you. 
Oh, if I only had some weapon!” 

The little woman entwined his neck with her arms and 
dampening his cheeks with tears began to assure him 
that it did not pain her very much and that she was crying 
not from pain but from sorrow for him. At this Stas 
put his lips to her ear and whispered: 

“Nell, I swear that, not because he whipped me, but 
because he struck you, I shall not forgive him.” With 
that the incident closed. 

After a certain time Gebhr and Idris, becoming recon- 
ciled, spread out their cloaks upon the ground and lay 
upon them, and Chamis soon followed their example. 
The Bedouins poured out durra for the camels, after which, 
having mounted two unengaged camels, they rode in the 
direction of the Nile. Nell, supporting her head on old 
Dinah’s knee, fell asleep. The fire was dying out and 
soon could be heard only the grinding of the durra in the 
camels’ teeth. On high rolled small clouds which at times 
veiled the moon, but the night was clear. Beyond the 
rocks resounded the mournful whining of jackals. 

After two hours the Bedouins returned with the camels 
bearing leather bags filled with water. Having fed the 
fire, they sat on the sand and commenced to eat. Their 
arrival awoke Stas, who previously had been dozing, as well 
as Chamis, son of Chadigi, and the two Sudanese. Then 
at the camp-fire began the following conversation: 

“Can we start?” Idris asked. 

“No, because we must rest; — we and our camels.” 

“Did any one see you?” 

“Nobody. We reached the river between two villages. 
In the distance dogs barked.” 

“Tt will be necessary always to go for water at mid- 


64 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


night and draw it at deserted places. Only let us get 
past the first ‘challa’ (cataract); beyond that the vil- 
lages are farther apart and they are more friendly to the 
prophet. A pursuing party will undoubtedly follow us.” 

At this Chamis turned over, with his back up, and 
resting his face on his hands said: 

“The Mehendes will first wait for the children in El- 
Fachn during the whole night and until the following 
train; later they will go to Fayim and from there to 
Gharak. Only there will they understand what has hap- 
pened and then they will have to return to Medinet to 
send words flying over the copper wire to cities on the 
Nile and to the camel-corps which will pursue us. All 
that will take at least three days. Therefore we do not 
need to tire our camels and can peacefully ‘drink smoke’ 
from pipe-stems.”’ 

Saying this, he pulled out a sprig of a rose of Jericho 
and lit his pipe with it, while Idris began, according to 
the Arabian habit, to smack his lips with satisfaction. 

“You arranged it well, son of Chadigi,” he said, “but 
it is necessary for us to take advantage of the time and 
to drive during those three days and nights as far as 
possible southward. I shall breathe freely only when 
we shall cross the desert between the Nile and Kharga 
(a great oasis west of the Nile). God grant that the 
camels hold out.” 

“They will hold out,” declared one of the Bedouins. 

“People also say,” interposed Chamis, “that the army 
of the Mahdi — may God prolong his life — has already 
reached Assuan.” 

Here Stas, who did not lose a word of this conversation 
and remembered also what Idris had said to Gebhr, rose 
and said: 

“The army of the Mahdi is below Khartiim.”’ 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 65 


“La! La! (no! no!)’? Chamis contradicted. 

“Don’t pay any attention to his words,” Stas replied, 
“for he not only has a dark skin but also a dark brain. 
Although you bought fresh camels every three days and 
rushed as you have done this day, you would not reach 
Khartim for a month. And perhaps you do not know 
that an English, not an Egyptian, army bars the road 
tO YOu. * 

These words created a certain impression and Stas, 
observing this, continued: 

“Before you find yourselves between the Nile and 
the great oasis all the roads on the desert will be picketed 
by a line of army sentinels. Words over the copper wire 
speed quicker than camels. How will you be able to slip 
through?” 

“The desert is wide,’ answered one of the Bedouins. 

“But you must keep close to the Nile.” 

“We can cross over, and when they seek us on this 
side we shall be on the other.” 

“Words speeding over the copper wire will reach cities 
and villages on both banks of the river.” 

“The Mahdi will send us an angel, who will place a 
finger on the eyes of the Englishmen and the Turks 
(Egyptians) and will screen us with his wings.” 

“Tdris,” said Stas, “I do not address Chamis whose 
head is like an empty gourd, nor Gebhr who is a vile 
jackal, but you. I already know that you want to carry 
us to the Mahdi and deliver us to Smain. But if you are 
doing this for money, then know that the father of this 
little ‘bint’ (girl) is richer than all the Sudanese put 
together.” 

“ And what of it?” interrupted Idris. 

“What of it? Return voluntarily and the great Mehendi 
will not spare money for you, nor will my father either.” 


66 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


“But they will give us up to the Government, which 
will order us to be hung.” 

“No, Idris. You undoubtedly will hang, but only in 
case they capture you in the flight; and that surely will 
happen. But if you return, no punishment will be meted 
out to you, and besides you will be wealthy to the end 
of your life. You know that the white people of Europe 
always keep their word. Now I give you the word for 
both Mehendes that it will be as I say.” 

And Stas in reality was confident that his father and 
Mr. Rawlinson would prefer to fulfil the promise made 
by him than expose both of them, and especially Nell, 
to the terrible journey and yet more terrible life among 
the savage and maddened hordes of the Mahdi. 

So with palpitating heart, he waited for the reply of 
Idris who was plunged in silence and only after a long 
interval said: 

“You say that the father of the little ‘bint’ and yours 
will give us a great deal of money?” 

ce Yeu: 

“But can all their money open for us the gates of para- 
dise which only the blessing of the Mahdi can do?” 

“Bismillah!” shouted both Bedouins together with 
Chamis and Gebhr. 

Stas at once lost all hope, for he knew that howsoever 
much the people in the East are greedy and venal, never- 
theless when a true Mohammedan views any matter from 
the standpoint of faith, there are not any treasures in 
the world with which he can be tempted. 

Idris, encouraged by the shouts, continued, and evidently 
not for the purpose of replying to Stas, but with a view 
of gaining greater esteem and praise from his companions. 

“We have the good fortune not only to belong to that 
_ tribe which gave the holy prophet, but the noble Fatma 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 67 


and her children are his relatives and the great Mahdi 
loves them. If we deliver you and the little ‘bint’ to 
him, he will exchange you for Fatma and her sons and 
will bless us. Know that even the water, in which every 
morning according to the precepts of the Koran he makes 
his ablutions, heals the sick and eliminates sins; and 
think what his blessing can accomplish!” 

“Bismillah!” reiterated the Sudanese and Bedouins. 

But Stas, clutching at the last plank for help, said: 

“Then take me and let the Bedouins return with the 
little ‘bint.’ For me they will surrender Fatma and her 
sons.” 

“Tt is yet more certain that they will surrender her 
for you two.” 

At this the boy addressed Chamis: 

“Your father shall answer for your conduct.” 

“My father is already in the desert, on his way to the 
prophet,” retorted Chamis. 

“Then they will capture and hang him.” 

Here, however, Idris deemed it proper to give encourage- 
ment to his companions. 

“Those vultures,” he said, “which will pick the flesh 
from our bones may not yet be hatched. We know what 
threatens us, but we are not children, and we know the 
desert of old. These men (here he pointed at the Bed- 
ouins) were many times in Berber and are acquainted 
with roads over which only gazelles roam. There no- 
body will find us and nobody will seek us. We must 
indeed turn for water to the Bahr Yisuf and later to 
the Nile, but will do that in the night. Besides, do you 
think that on the river there are no secret friends of the 
Mahdi? And I tell you that the farther south we go the 
more of them we will find. There, tribes and their sheiks 
are only waiting for the favorable moment to seize the 


68 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


sword in defense of the true faith. These alone will 
supply water, food, and camels, and lead astray the 
pursuit. In truth, we know that it is far to the Mahdi, 
but we know also that every day brings us nearer to the 
sheep’s hide on which the holy prophet kneels to pray.” 

“Bismillah!”? shouted his companions for the third 
time. 

It was apparent that Idris’ importance grew among 
them considerably. Stas understood that all was lost; 
so, desiring at least to protect Nell from the malice of the 
Sudanese, he said: 

“After six hours the little lady reached here barely 
alive. How can you think that she can endure such a 
journey? If she should die, I also will die, and then with 
what will you come to the Mahdi?” 

Now Idris could not find an answer. Stas, perceiving 
this, continued thus: 

“ And how will the Mahdi and Smain receive you when 
they learn that for your folly Fatma and her children 
must pay with their lives?”’ 

But the Sudanese had recovered himself and replied: 

“T saw how you grasped Gebhr’s throat. By Allah! 
you are a lion’s whelp and will not die and she —” 

Here he gazed at the little head of the sleeping girl 
resting on the knees of old Dinah and finished in a kind 
of strangely gentle voice: 

“For her we will weave on the camel’s hump a nest, 
as for a bird, that she may not at all feel fatigue and that 
she may sleep on the road as peacefully as she is sleeping 
now.” F 

Saying this he walked towards the camels and with 
the Bedouins began to make a seat for the little girl on 
the back of the best dromedary. At this they chattered 
a great deal and quarrelled among themselves but finally, 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 69 


with the aid of ropes, shaggy coverlets, and short bamboo 
poles they made something in the shape of a deep, immov- 
able basket in which Nell could sit or lie down, but from 
which she could not fall. Above this seat, so broad that 
Dinah also could be accommodated in it, they stretched 
a linen awning. 

“You see,” said Idris to Stas, “quail’s eggs could not 
crack in those housings. The old woman will ride with 
the little lady to serve her day and night. — You will 
sit with me, but can ride near her and watch over her.” 

Stas was glad that he had secured even this much. 
Pondering over the situation, he came to the conclusion 
that in all probability they would be captured before they 
reached the first cataract, and this thought gave him hope. 
In the meantime he wanted above all things to sleep; 
so he promised himself that he would tie himself with 
some kind of rope to the saddle, and, as he would not 
have to hold Nell, he could take a nap for a few hours. 

The night already became paler and the jackals ceased 
their whining amid the passes. The caravan was to 
start immediately, but the Sudanese, observing the 
dawn, went to a rock, a few paces away, and there, con- 
formably with the precepts of the Koran, began their 
morning ablutions, using, however, sand instead of water, 
which they desired to save. Afterwards resounded 
voices, saying the “soubhg,” or morning prayer. Amidst 
the deep silence plainly could be heard their words: 
“In the name of the compassionate and merciful God. 
Glory to the Lord, the sovereign of the world, compassion- 
ate and merciful on the day of judgment. Thee we wor- 
ship and profess. Thee we implore for aid. Lead us 
over the road of those to whom thou dost not spare 
benefactions and grace and not over the paths of sinners 
who have incurred Thy wrath and who err. Amen.” 


70 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


And Stas, hearing these voices, raised his eyes upwards 
and in that distant region, amidst tawny, gloomy sands, 
began the prayer: 

“We fly to Thy patronage, O Holy Mother of 
God.” 


VIII 


THE night faded. The men already had the saddles on 
the camels, when suddenly they observed a desert wolf, 
which, with tail curled beneath it, rushed across the pass, 
about a hundred paces from the caravan, and reaching 
the opposite table-land, dashed ahead showing signs of 
fright as if it fled before some enemy. On the Egyptian 
deserts there are no wild animals before which wolves 
could feel any fear and for that reason this sight greatly 
alarmed the Sudanese Arabs. What could this be? Was 
the pursuing party already approaching? One of the 
Bedouins quickly climbed on a rock, but he had barely 
glanced when he slipped down yet more quickly. 

“By the prophet!” he exclaimed, confused and fright- 
ened, “a lion is rushing towards us and is already close 
by!” 

And then from beyond the rocks came a bass “wow” 
after which Stas and Nell shouted together: 

“Saba! Saba!” 

As in the Arabian language this means a lion, the 
Bedouins became frightened yet more, but Chamis burst 
out laughing and said: 

“T know that lion.” 

Saying this he whistled drawlingly and in a moment 
the gigantic mastiff dashed among the camels. Seeing 
the children he leaped towards them. From joy he over- 
turned Nell who extended her hands to him; he reared 


72 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


himself on Stas; afterwards whining and barking he ran 
round both a few times, again overturned Nell, again 
reared himself on Stas, and finally lying down at their 
feet began to pant. 

His sides were sunken, from his lolling tongue fell 
clots of froth; nevertheless he wagged his tail and raised 
his eyes full of love at Nell as if he wanted to say: “Your 
father ordered me to watch over you, so here I am.” 

The children sat close to him, one on each side, and 
began to pat him. The two Bedouins, who never before 
saw a creature like this, gazed at him with astonishment, 
repeating: “On Allah! o kelb kebir!”’ (“By God! that is 
a big dog!’’) while he for some time lay quietly. After- 
wards he raised his head, inhaled the air through his 
black nose resembling a big truffle, scented, and jumped 
towards the extinct camp-fire, near which lay the remnants 
of food. 

In the same moment goat’s and lamb’s bones began 
to crack and crumble as straw in his powerful teeth. 
After eight people, counting old Dinah and Nell, there 
was enough for such “kelb kebir.” 

But the Sudanese were worried by his arrival and the 
two camel drivers, calling Chamis to one side, began to 
speak to him with uneasiness and even with indignation. 

“Tblis! brought that dog here,’ exclaimed Gebhr, 
“but in what manner did he find the children, since they 
came to Gharak by rail?” 

“Surely by the camel tracks,” answered Chamis. 

“Tt happened badly. Everybody who sees him with 
us will remember our caravan and will point out where 
we went. We positively must get rid of him.” 

“But how?” asked Chamis. 


1 Iblis, one of the names of the devil in the Koran. — Trans- 
lator’s note. 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 73 


“We have a rifle, so take it and shoot him in the 
head.” 

In a case of urgency, Chamis might be able, for Stas 
had several times opened and closed his weapon before 
him, but he was sorry for the dog of whom he was fond, 
having taken care of him before the arrival of the children 
at Medinet. He knew perfectly that the Sudanese had 
no idea how to handle a weapon of the latest model and 
would be at a loss what to do with it. 

“Tf you don’t know how,” he said, with a crafty smile, 
“that little ‘nouzrani’ (Christian) could kill the dog, 
but that rifle can fire several times in succession; so I 
do not advise you to put it in his hands.” 

“God forbid!” replied Idris; “he would shoot us like 
quails.” 

“We have knives,”’ observed Gebhr. 

“Try it, but remember that you have a throat which 
the dog will pull to pieces before you stab him.” 

“Then what is to be done?”’ 

Chamis shrugged his shoulder. 

“Why do you want to kill the dog? If you should 
afterwards bury him in the sand, the hyenas will dig 
him out; the pursuers will find his bones and will know 
that we did not cross the Nile but made off in this direc- 
tion. Let him follow us. As often as the Bedouins go 
for water and we hide in the passes, you may be sure that 
the dog will stay with the children. Allah! It is better 
that he came now, for otherwise he would lead the pur- 
suing party on our tracks as far as Berber. You do not 
need to feed him, for if our leavings are not sufficient it 
will not be difficult for him to get a hyena or jackal. Leave 
him in peace, I tell you, and do not lose any time in 
idle talk.” 

“Perhaps you are right,” said Idris. 


74 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


“Tf I am right, then I will give him water, so that he 
shall not run to the Nile and show himself in the villages.” 

In this manner was decided the fate of Saba who, 
having somewhat rested himself and eaten his fill, in 
the twinkling of an eye lapped up a bowl of water and 
started with renewed strength after the caravan. 

They now rode on high, level ground, on which the 
wind wrinkled the sand and from which could be seen 
on both sides the immense expanse of the desert. Heaven 
assumed the tint of a pearl shell. Light little- clouds 
gathered in the east and changed like opals, after which 
they suddenly became dyed with gold. One ray darted, 
afterwards another, and the sun — as is usual in southern 
countries, in which there are scarcely any twilight and 
dawn — did not ascend, but burst from behind the clouds 
like a pillar of fire and flooded the horizon with a bright 
light. It enlivened heaven, it enlivened the earth, and 
the immeasurable sandy expanse was unveiled to the 
eyes of men. 

“We must hasten,” said Idris, “for here we can be 
seen from a distance.” 

Accordingly the rested and satiated camels sped on 
with the celerity of gazelles. Saba remained behind, 
but there was no fear that he would get lost and 
not appear at the first short halt for refreshments. The 
dromedary on which Idris rode with Stas ran close to 
the one on which Nell was mounted, so that the children 
could easily converse with each other. The seat which 
the Sudanese had made appeared splendid and the little 
girl really looked like a bird in a nest. She could 
not fall, even sleeping, and the ride fatigued her far less 
than during the night. The bright daylight gave cour- 
age to both children. In Stas’ heart the hope entered 
that since Saba had overtaken them, the pursuers might 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 75 


do the same. This hope he at once shared with Nell, 
who smiled at him for the first time since their abduction. 

“When will they overtake us?” she asked in French 
in order that Idris should not understand them. 

“T donot know. It may be to-day; perhaps to-morrow; 
perhaps after two or three days.”’ 

“But we will not ride back on camels?” 

“No. We will ride only as far as the Nile, and after- 
wards go by way of the Nile to El-Wasta.”’ 

“That is good! oh, good!” 

Poor Nell, who had previously loved these rides, had 
evidently now had enough of them. 

“By way of the Nile —to El-Wasta and to papa 
she began to repeat in a sleepy voice. 

As at the previous stop she did not enjoy a full sound 
sleep, she now fell into that deep sleep which after fatigue 
comes towards morning. In the meantime the Bedouins 
drove the camels without a rest and Stas observed 
that they were making their way towards the interior 
of the desert. 

So, desiring to shake Idris’ confidence that he would 
be able to elude the pursuit, and at the same time to 
show him that he himself relied upon it as a dead cer- 
tainty, he said: 

“You are driving away from the Nile and from Bahr 
Ydsuf, but that won’t help you, for of course they will 
not seek you on the banks where villages lie side by side, 
but in the interior of the desert.” 

And Idris asked: 

“How do you know that we are driving away from the 
Nile, since the banks cannot be seen from here?” 

“Because the sun, which is in the eastern part of 
heaven, is warming our backs; that means we have 
turned to the west.” 


1»? 


76 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


“You are a wise boy,” said Idris with esteem. 

After a while he added: 

“But the pursuing party will not overtake us nor 
will you escape.” 

“No,” answered Stas, “I shall not escape — unless 
with her.” 

And he pointed to the sleeping girl. 

Until noon they sped almost without pausing for breath, 
but when the sun rose high in the sky and began to scorch, 
the camels, which by nature perspire but little, were 
covered with sweat, and their pace slackened considerably. 
The caravan again was surrounded by rocks and dunes. 
The ravines, which during the rainy season are changed 
into channels of streams, or so-called “khors,’” came 
to view more and more frequently. The Bedouins finally 
halted in one of them which was entirely concealed amid 
the rocks. But they had barely dismounted from the 
camels when they raised a cry and dashed ahead, bend- 
ing over every little while and throwing stones ahead 
of them. Stas, who had not yet alighted from the saddle, 
beheld a strange sight. From among the dry bushes 
overgrowing the bed of the “khor,” a big snake emerged 
and, gliding sinuously with the rapidity of lightning 
among the fragments of rocks, escaped to some hiding- 
place known to itself. The Bedouins chased it furiously 
and Gebhr rushed to their aid with a knife. But owing 
to the unevenness of the ground it was difficult either 
to hit the snake with a stone or to pin it with a knife. 
Soon all three returned with terror visible on their faces. 

And the cries, customary with Arabs, resounded: 

“ Allah!” 

“Bismillah!” 

“Mashallah!” 

Afterwards both Sudanese began to look with a kind 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 77 


of strange and, at the same time, searching and inquiring 
gaze at Stas who could not understand what was the 
matter. 

In the meantime Nell also dismounted from her camel, 
and though she was less tired than during the night, 
Stas spread for her a saddle-cloth in the shade on a level 
spot and told her to lie down, in order, as he said, that 
she might straighten out her little feet. The Arabs pre- 
pared their noon meal, which consisted of biscuits and 
dates, together with a gulp of water. The camels were 
not watered for they had drank during the night. The 
faces of Idris, Gebhr and the Bedouins were still dejected, 
and the stop was made in silence. Finally Idris called 
Stas aside, and began to question him with a countenance 
at once mysterious and perturbed. 

“Did you see the snake?” 

aid. 

“Did you conjure it to appear before us?” 

INO, 

“Some ill-luck awaits us as those fools did not succeed 
in killing it.” 

“The gallows awaits you.” 

“Be silent! Is your father a sorcerer?” 

“He is,’ answered Stas without any hesitation, for 
he understood in a moment that those savage and super- 
stitious men regarded the appearance of a reptile as an 
evil omen and an announcement that the flight would 
not succeed. 

“So then your father sent it to us,’ answered Idris, 
“but he ought to understand that we can avenge our- 
selves for his charms upon you.” 

“You will not do anything to me as the sons of Fatma 
would have to suffer for any injury to me.” 

“And you already understand this? But remember 


78 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


that if it was not for me, your blood would have 
flowed under Gebhr’s courbash — yours and that little 
“Dints: also. 

“T therefore shall intercede for you only; but Gebhr 
shall swing on the rope.” 

At this Idris gazed at him for a while as if with astonish- 
ment and said: 

“Our lives are not yet in your hands and you already 
talk to us as our lord —”’ 

After a while he added: 

“You are a strange ‘uled’ (boy), and such a one I have 
not yet seen. Thus far I have been kind to you, but 
take heed and do not threaten.”’ 

“God punishes treachery,” answered Stas. 

It was apparent, however, that the assurance with 
which the boy spoke in connection with the evil omen 
in the form of a snake which succeeded in escaping, dis- 
quieted Idris in a high degree. Having already mounted 
the camel he repeated several times: “Yes, I was kind 
to you,”’ as if in any event he wished to impress this upon 
Stas’ memory, and afterwards he began to finger the beads 
of a rosary made of the shells of “dum” nuts, and pray. 

About two o’clock, though it was in the winter season, 
the heat became unusual. In the sky there was not a 
cloudlet, but the horizon’s border was disfigured. 

Above the caravan hovered a few vultures whose 
widely outstretched wings cast moving, black shadows 
on the tawny sands. In the heated air could be smelt 
an odor like the gas exhaled from burning charcoal. The 
camels, not ceasing to run, began to grunt strangely. One 
of the Bedouins approached Idris. 

“Some evil is brewing?” 

“What, do you think?” asked the Sudanese. 

“Wicked spirits awoke the wind slumbering on the 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 79 


western desert, and he rose from the sands and is rush- 
ing upon us.” 

Idris raised himself on the saddle, gazed into the distance, 
and replied: 

“That is so. He is coming from the west and south 
but is not as furious as a Khamsin.” 4 

“Three years ago near Abu-Hamed he buried a whole 
caravan and did not sweep the sand away until last 
winter. Ualla! He may have enough strength to stuff 
the nostrils of the camels and dry up the water in the 
bags.” 

“Tt is necessary that we speed so that he strike us 
only with a wing.” 

“We are flying in his eyes and are not able to avoid 
him.” 

“The quicker he comes, the quicker he will pass away.” 

Saying this, Idris struck his camel with a courbash 
and his example was followed by the others. For some 
time could be heard the dull blows of the thick whips, 
resembling the clapping of hands, and the cries of “ Yalla.”’ 
On the southwest the horizon, previously whitish, dark- 
ened. The heat continued and the sun scorched the 
heads of the riders. The vultures soared very high 
evidently, for their shadows grew smaller and smaller, 
and they finally vanished entirely. 

It became sultry. 

The Arabs yelled at the camels until their throats 
became parched, after which they were silent and a 
funereal quiet ensued, interrupted only by the groaning 
of the animals. 

Two very small foxes ? with big ears stole by the caravan, 
running in an opposite direction. 


1 A southwest wind which blows in the spring. 
2 An animal smaller than our foxes, called “fennec.’”’ 


80 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


The same Bedouin, who had. previously conversed 
with Idris, spoke out again in a strange and as if not his 
own voice: 

“This will not be a usual wind. Evil charms are pur- 
suing us. The snake is to blame for all —”’ 

“T know,” answered Idris. 

“Look! the air quivers. That does not happen in 
winter.” 

In fact the heated air began to quiver, and in conse- 
quence of an illusion of the eyes it seemed to the riders 
that the sands quivered. The Bedouin took his sweaty 
cowl from his head and said: 

“The heart of the desert beats with terror.”’ 

And at this the other Bedouin, riding in the lead as a 
guide of the camels, turned around and began to shout: 

“He is already coming! — He is coming!” 

And in truth the wind came up. In the distance ap- 
peared as it were dark clouds which in their eyes grew 
higher and higher and approached the caravan. The 
nearest waves of air all around became agitated and 
sudden gusts of wind began to spin the sand. Here and 
there funnels were formed as if someone had drilled the 
surface of the desert with a cane. At places rose swift 
whirlpools resembling pillars, thin at the bottom and 
outspread on top like plumes of feathers. All this lasted 
but the twinkling of an eye. The cloud which the camel- 
guide first espied came flying towards them with an in- 
conceivable velocity. It struck the people and beasts 
like the wing of a gigantic bird. In one moment the 
eyes and mouths of the riders were filled with sand. 
Clouds of dust hid the sky, hid the sun, and the earth 
became dusky. The men began to lose sight of one an- 
other and even the nearest camel appeared indistinctly 
as if in a fog. Not the rustle — for on the desert there 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS S1 


are no trees — but the roar of the whirlwind drowned 
the calls of the guide and the bellowing of the animals. 
In the atmosphere could be smelt an odor such as coal 
smoke gives. The camels stood still and, turning away 
from the wind, they stretched their long necks downward 
so that their nostrils almost touched the sand. 

The Sudanese, however, did not wish to allow a stop, 
as caravans which halt during a hurricane are often buried 
in sand. At such times it is best to speed with the whirl- 
wind, but Idris and Gehbr could not do this, for in thus 
doing they would return to Fayfim from where they 
expected a pursuit. So when the first gale passed they 
again drove the camels. 

A momentary stillness ensued but the ruddy dusk 
dissipated very slowly for the sun could not pierce through 
the clouds of dust suspended in the air. The thicker 
and heavier particles of sand began to fall. Sand filled all 
the cracks and punctures in the saddles and clung to the 
folds of the clothes. The people with each breath in- 
haled dust which irritated their lungs and grated their 
teeth. 

Besides, the whirlwind might break out again and hide 
the whole world. It occurred to Stas that if at the time 
of such darkness he was with Nell on the same camel, 
he might turn around and escape with the wind north- 
ward. Who knows whether they would be observed 
amidst the dusk and confusion of the elements, and, if 
they succeeded in reaching any village on Bahr Yisuf 
near the Nile, Idris and Gebhr would not dare to pursue 
them for they would at once fall into the hands of the 
local “ police.” 

Stas, weighing all this, jostled Idris’ shoulder and said: 

“Give me the gourd with water.” 

Idris did not refuse for howsoever much that morning 


82 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


they had turned into the interior of the desert and quite 
far from the river, they had enough of water, and the 
camels drank copiously during the time of their night 
stop. Besides this, as a man acquainted with the desert, 
he knew that after a hurricane, rain usually follows and 
the dried-up “khors” change temporarily into streams. 

Stas in reality was thirsty, so he took a good drink, 
after which, not returning the gourd, he again jostled 
Idris’ arm. 

“Halt the caravan.” 

“Why?” asked the Sudanese. 

“Because I want to sit on the camel with the little 
‘bint’ and give her water.” 

“Dinah has a bigger gourd than mine.” 

“But she is greedy and surely has emptied it. A great 
deal of sand must have fallen into her saddle which you 
made like a basket. Dinah will be helpless.”’ 

“The wind will break out after a while and will refill 
eae 

“That is the more reason why she will require help.” 

Idris lashed the camel with his whip and for a while 
they rode in silence. 

“Why don’t you answer?” Stas asked. 

“Because I am considering whether it would be better 
to tie you to the saddle or tie your hands behind.” 

“You have become insane.” 

“No. I have guessed what you intended to do.” 

“The pursuers will overtake us anyway; so I would 
not have to do it.” 

“The desert is in the hands of God.” 

They became silent again. The thicker sand fell en- 
tirely; there remained in the air a subtile red dust, some- 
thing of the nature of pollen, through which the sun 
shone like a copper plate. But already they could see 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 83 


ahead. Before the caravan stretched level ground at 
the borders of which the keen eyes of the Arabs again 
espied a cloud. It was higher than the previous one and, 
besides this, there shot from it what seemed like pillars, 
or gigantic chimneys expanding at the top. At this sight 
the hearts of the Arabs and Bedouins quailed for they 
recognized the great sandy whirlpools. Idris raised his 
hands and drawing his palms towards his ears began to 
prostrate himself to the approaching whirlwind. His 
faith in one God evidently did not prevent his worship 
and fear of others for Stas distinctly heard him say: 

“Lord! We are thy children; therefore do not devour | 
Us. 

But the “lord” just dashed at them and assailed the 
camels with a force so terrible that they almost fell to 
the ground. The animals now formed a compact pack 
with heads turned to the center towards each other. 
Whole masses of sand were stirred. The caravan was 
enveloped by a dusk deeper than before and in that dusk 
there flew beside the riders dark and indistinct objects, 
as though gigantic birds or camels were dispersed with 
the hurricane. Fear seized the Arabs, to whom it seemed 
that these were the spirits of animals and men who 
had perished under the sands. Amid the roar and howl- 
ing could be heard strange voices similar to sobs, to 
laughter, to cries for help. But these were delusions. 
The caravan was threatened by real danger, a hundred- 
fold greater. The Sudanese well knew that if any one 
of the great whirlpools, forming incessantly in the bosom 
of the hurricane, should catch them in its whirls, it would 
hurl the riders to the ground and disperse the camels, 
and if it should break and fall upon them then in the 
twinkling of an eye an immense sandy mound would 
cover them in which they would remain until the next 


84 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


hurricane, blowing away the sand, should reveal their 
skeletons. 

Stas’ head swam, his lungs seemed choked, and the 
sand blinded him. But at times it seemed to him that he 
heard Nell crying and calling; so he thought only of her. 
Taking advantage of the fact that the camels stood in a 
close pack and that Idris might not observe him, he deter- 
mined to creep over quietly to the girl’s camel, not for 
the purpose of escaping, but to give her assistance and 
encouragement. But he had barely extended his limbs 
from under him and stretched out his hands to grasp the 
edge of Nell’s saddle, when the giant hand of Idris grabbed 
him. The Sudanese snatched him like a feather, laid him 
before him and began to tie him with a palm rope, and 
after binding his hands, placed him across the saddle. 
Stas pressed his teeth and resisted as well as he could, 
but in vain. Having a parched throat and a mouth filled 
with sand he could not convince Idris that he desired only 
to go to the girl’s assistance and did not want to escape. 

After a while, however, feeling that he was suffocating, 
he began to shout in a stifled voice: 

“Save the little ‘ bint’! Save the little ‘ bint ’!” 

But the Arabs preferred to think of their own lives. 
The blasts became so terrible that they could not sit on 
the camels nor could the camels stand in their places. 
The two Bedouins with Chamis and Gebhr leaped to 
the ground, in order to hold the animals by cords attached 
to the mouthpieces under their lower jaws. Idris, shov- 
ing Stas to the rear of the saddle, did the same. The 
animals spread out their legs as widely as possible in order 
to resist the furious whirlwind, but they lacked strength, 
and the caravan, scourged by gravel which cut like 
hundreds of whips and the sand which pricked like pins, 
began now slowly, then hurriedly, to turn about and 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 85 


retreat under the pressure. At times the whirlwind tore 
holes under their feet, then again the sand and gravel 
bounding from the sides of the camels would form, in 
the twinkling of an eye, mounds reaching to their knees 
and higher. In this manner hour passed after hour. 
The danger became more and more terrible. Idris finally 
understood that the only salvation was to remount the 
camels and fly with the whirlwind. But this would be | 
returning in the direction of Fayiim, where Egyptian 
Courts and the gallows were waiting for them. 

“Ha! it cannot be helped,” thought Idris. “The hurri- 
cane will also stop the pursuit and when it ceases, we will 
again proceed southward.” 

And he began to shout that they should resume their 
seats on the camels. 

But at this moment something happened which en- 
tirely changed the situation. 

Suddenly, the dusky, almost black, clouds of sand were 
illumined with a livid light. The darkness then became 
still deeper, but at the same time there arose, slumber- 
ing on high and awakened by the whirlwind, thunder; it 
began to roll between the Arabian and Libyan deserts, — 
powerful, threatening, one might say, angry. It seemed 
as if from the heavens, mountains and rocks were tumbling 
down. The deafening peal intensified, grew, shook the 
world, began to roam all over the whole horizon; in 
places it burst with a force as terrible as if the shattered 
vault of heaven had fallen upon earth and afterwards itagain 
rolled with a hollow, continual rumble; again it burst forth, 
again broke, it blinded with lightning, and struck with 
thunderbolts, descended, rose, and pealed continuously. 

1 The author heard in the vicinity of Aden thunder which 


lasted without intermission for half an hour. See “Letters from 
Africa.” 


86 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


The wind subsided as if overawed, and when after 
a long time somewhere in the immeasurable distance the 
chain-bolt of heaven rattled, a deadly stillness followed 
the thunder. 

But after a while in that silence the voice of the guide 
resounded. : 

“God is above the whirlwind and the storm. We are 
saved.” 

They started. But they were enveloped by a night so 
impenetrable that though the camels ran close together, 
the men could not see each other and had to shout aloud 
every little while in order not to lose one another. From 
time to time glaring lightning, livid or red, illuminated 
the sandy expanse, but afterwards fell a darkness so thick 
as to be almost palpable. Notwithstanding the hope, 
which the voice of the guide poured into the hearts of 
the Sudanese, uneasiness did not yet leave them, because 
they moved blindly, not knowing in truth in which di- 
rection they were going;— whether they were moving 
around in a circle or were returning northward. The 
animals stumbled against each other every little while 
and could not run swiftly, and besides they panted 
strangely, and so loudly that it seemed to the riders that 
the whole desert panted from fear. Finally fell the first 
drops of rain, which almost always follows a hurricane, 
and at the same time the voice of the guide broke out 
amidst the darkness: 

cs Khor!”’ 

They were above a ravine. The camels paused at the 


brink; after which they began to step carefully towards 
the bottom. 


IX 


Tue khor was wide, covered on the bottom with stones 
among which grew dwarfish, thorny shrubs. A _ high 
rock full of crevices and fissures formed its southern 
wall. The Arabs discerned all this by the light of quiet 
but more and more frequent lightning flashes. Soon 
they also discovered in the rocky wall a kind of shallow 
cave or, rather, a broad niche, in which people could easily 
be harbored and, in case of a great downpour, could 
find shelter. The camels also could be comfortably 
lodged upon a slight elevation close by the niche. The 
Bedouins and two Sudanese removed from them their 
burdens and saddles, so that they might rest well, and 
Chamis, son of Chadigi, occupied himself in the meantime 
with pulling thorny shrubs for a fire. Big single drops 
fell continually but the downpour began only when the 
party lay down to sleep. At first it was like strings of 
water, afterwards ropes, and in the end it seemed as if 
whole rivers were flowing from invisible clouds. Such 
rains, which occur only once in several years, swell, even 
in winter time, the water of the canals and the Nile, and 
in Aden fill immense cisterns, without which the city 
could not exist at all. Stas never in his life had seen 
anything like it. At the bottom of the khor the stream 
began to rumble; the entrance to the niche was veiled 
as if by a curtain of water; around could be heard only 
splashing and spluttering. 


88 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


The camels stood on an elevation and the downpour 
at most would give them a bath; nevertheless the Arabs 
peered out every little while to see if any danger threatened 
the animals. To the others it was agreeable to sit in 
the cave, safe from danger, by the bright fire of brushwood, 
which was not yet soaked. On their faces joy was depicted. 
Idris, who immediately after their arrival had untied 
Stas’ hands so that he could eat, now turned to him 
and smiling contemptuously said: 

“The Mahdi is greater than all white sorcerers. He 
subdued the hurricane and sent rain.” 

Stas did not reply for he was occupied with Nell, who 
was barely alive. First he shook the sand from her hair, 
afterwards directed old Dinah to unpack the things which 
she, in the belief that the children were going to their 
parents, brought with her from Fayim. He took a towel, 
wet it, and wiped the little girl’s eyes and face with it. 
Dinah could not do this as seeing but poorly with one 
eye only, she lost her sight almost entirely during the 
hurricane and washing her heated eyelids did not bring 
her any relief. Nell submitted passively to all of Stas’ 
efforts; she only gazed at him like an exhausted bird, 
and only when he removed her shoes to spill out the 
sand and afterwards when he smoothed out the saddle- 
cloths did she throw her arms around his neck. 

His heart overflowed with great pity. He felt that 
he was a guardian, an older brother, and at that time 
_ Nell’s only protector, and he felt at the same time that 
he loved this little sister immensely, far more than ever 
before. He loved her indeed in Port Said, but he regarded 
her asa “baby”’; so, for instance, it never even occurred to 
him to kiss her hand in bidding her good night. If any 
one had suggested such an idea to him he would have 


thought that a bachelor, who had finished his thirteenth 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 89 


year, could not without derogation to his dignity and 
age do anything like that. But, at present, a common 
distress awoke in him dormant tenderness; so he kissed 
not one but both hands of the little girl. 

Lying down, he continued to think of her and deter- 
mined to perform some extraordinary deed to snatch her 
from captivity. He was prepared for everything, even 
for wounds and death; only with this little reservation 
secreted in his heart, that the wounds should not be too 
painful, and that the death should not be an inevitable 
and real death, as in such case he could not witness the 
happiness of Nell when liberated. Afterwards he began 
to ponder upon the most heroic manner of saving her, 
but his thoughts became confused. For a while it seemed 
to him that whole clouds of sand were burying him; 
afterwards that all the camels were piling on his head, — 
and he fell asleep. 

The Arabs, exhausted by the battle with the hurri- 
cane, after attending to the camels, also fell into a sound 
sleep. The fire became extinct and a dusk prevailed in 
the niche. Soon the snores of the men resounded, and 
from outside came the splash of the downpour and the 
roar of the waters dashing over the stones on the bottom 
of the khor. In this manner the night passed. 

But before dawn Stas was awakened from a heavy 
sleep by a feeling of cold. It appeared that water which 
accumulated in the fissures on the top of the rock slowly 
passed through some cleft in the vault of the cave and 
began finally to trickle onto his head. The boy sat up 
on the saddle-cloth and for some time struggled with 
sleep; he did not realize where he was and what had 
happened to him. 

After a while, however, consciousness returned to 
him. 


90 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


“Aha!” he thought, “ yesterday there was a hurricane 
and we are kidnapped, and this is a cave in which we 
sought shelter from the rain.” 

And he began to gaze around. At first he observed 
with astonishment that the rain had passed away and 
that it was not at all dark in the cave, as it was illumi- 
nated by the moon which was about to set. In its pale 
beams could be seen the whole interior of that wide but 
shallow niche. Stas saw distinctly the Arabs lying be- 
side each other, and under the other wall of the cave the 
white dress of Nell who was sleeping close to Dinah. 

And again great tenderness possessed his heart. 

“Sleep, Nell — sleep,” he said to himself; “but I do 
not sleep, and must save her.”’ 

After this, glancing at the Arabs, he added in his 
soul: 

“Ah! I do want to have all these rogues — ”’ 

Suddenly he trembled. 

His gaze fell upon the leather case containing the short 
rifle presented to him as a Christmas gift, and the car- 
tridge boxes lying between him and Chamis, so near that 
it would suffice for him to stretch out his hand. 

And his heart began to beat like a hammer. If he 
could secure the rifle and boxes he would certainly be the 
master of the situation. It would be enough in that 
case to slip noiselessly out of the niche, hide about fifty 
paces away, among the rocks, and from there watch the 
exit of the Sudanese and Bedouins. He thought that if 
they awakened and observed his absence they would 
rush out of the cave together but at that time he could 
with two bullets shoot down the first two and, before the 
others could reach him, the rifle could be reloaded. Chamis 
would remain but he could take care of him. 

Here he pictured to himself four corpses lying in a pool 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 91 


of blood, and fright and horror seized his breast. To 
kill four men! Indeed they were knaves, but even so it 
was a horrifying affair. He recollected that at one time 
he saw a laborer — a fellah — killed by the crank of a 
steam dredge, and what a horrible impression his mortal 
remains, quivering in a red puddle, made upon him! 
He shuddered at the recollection. And now four would 
be necessary! four! The sin and the horror! No, no, he 
was incapable of that. 

He began to struggle with his thoughts. For himself, 
he would not do that — No! But«Nell was concerned; 
her protection, her salvation, and her life were involved, 
for she could not endure all this, and certainly would 
die either on the road or among the wild and brutalized 
hordes of dervishes. What meant the blood of such 
wretches beside the life of Nell, and could any one in such 
a situation hesitate? 

“For Nell! For Nell!” 

But suddenly a thought flew like a whirlwind through 
Stas’ mind and caused the hair to rise on his head. 
What would happen if any one of the outlaws placed a 
knife at Nell’s breast, and announced that he would 
murder her if he — Stas — did not surrender and return 
the rifle to them. 

“Then,” answered the boy to himself, “I should sur- 
render at once.” 

And with a realization of his helplessness he again 
flung himself impotently upon the saddle-cloth. 

The moon now peered obliquely through the opening 
of the cave and it became less dark. The Arabs snored 
continually. Some time passed and a new idea began to 
dawn in Stas’ head. 

If, slipping out with the weapon and hiding among 
the rocks, he should kill not the men but shoot the camels? 


92 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


It would be too bad and a sad ending for the innocent 
animals; — that is true, but what was to be done? Why, 
people kill animals not only to save life but for broth and 
roast meat. Now it was a certainty that if he succeeded 
in killing four, and better still five camels, further travel 
would be impossible. No one in the caravan would dare 
to go to the villages near the banks to purchase new 
camels. And in such a case Stas, in the name of his 
father, would promise the men immunity from punish- 
ment and even a pecuniary reward and — nothing else 
would remain to do but to return. 

Yes, but if they should not give him time to make 
such a promise and should kill him in the first transports 
of rage? 

They must give him time and hear him for he would 
hold the rifle in his hand; he would be able to hold them 
at bay until he stated everything. When he had done, 
they would understand that their only salvation would 
be to surrender. Then he would be in command of the 
caravan and lead it directly to Bahr Yfisuf and the Nile. 
To be sure, at present they are quite a distance from it, 
perhaps one or two days’ journey, as the Arabs through 
caution had turned considerably into the interior of the 
desert. But that did not matter; there would remain, 
of course, a few camels and on one of them Nell would 
ride. 

Stas began to gaze attentively at the Arabs. They 
slept soundly, as people exceedingly tired do, but as the 
night was waning, they might soon awaken. It was 
necessary to act at once. The taking of the cartridge 
boxes did not present any difficulties as they lay close 
by. A more difficult matter was to get the rifle, which 
Chamis had placed at his further side. Stas hoped that he 
would succeed in purloining it, but he decided to draw it 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 93 


out of the case and put the stock and the barrels together 
when he should be about fifty paces from the cave, as he 
feared that the clank of the iron against iron would wake 
the sleepers. 

The moment arrived. The boy bent like an arch over 
Chamis and, seizing the case by the handle, began to 
transfer it to his side. His heart and pulse beat heavily, 
his eyes grew dim, his breathing became rapid, but he 
shut his teeth and tried to control his emotions. Never- 
theless when the straps of the case creaked lightly, drops 
of cold perspiration stood on his forehead. That second 
seemed to him an age. But Chamis did not even stir. 
The case described an arch over him and rested silently 
beside the box with cartridges. 

Stas breathed freely. One-half of the work was done. 
Now it was necessary to slip out of the cave noiselessly 
and run about fifty paces; afterwards to hide in a fissure, 
open the case, put the rifle together, load it, and fill his 
pockets with cartridges. The caravan then would be 
actually at his mercy. 

Stas’ black silhouette was outlined on the brighter 
background of the cave’s entrance. A second more and 
he would be on the outside, and would hide in the rocky 
fissure. And then, even though one of the outlaws should 
wake, before he realized what had happened and before 
he aroused the others — it would be too late. The boy, 
from fear of knocking down some stone, of which a large 
number lay at the threshold of the niche, shoved out one 
foot and began to seek firm ground with his step. 

And already his head leaned out of the opening and he 
was about to slip out wholly when suddenly something 
happened which turned the blood in his veins to ice. 

Amid the profound stillness pealed like a thunder- 
bolt the joyous bark of Saba; it filled the whole ravine 


94. IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


and awoke the echoes reposing in it. The Arabs as one 
man were startled from their sleep, and the first object 
which struck their eyes was the sight of Stas with the 
case in one hand and the cartridge box in the other. 

Ah, Saba! what have you done? 


xX 


WitH cries of horror, all in a moment rushed at Stas; in 
the twinkling of an eye they wrested the rifle and car- 
tridges from him and threw him on the ground, tied his 
hands and feet, striking and kicking him all the time, 
until finally Idris, from fear of the boy’s life, drove them 
off. Afterwards they began to converse in disjointed 
words, as people do over whom had impended a terrible 
danger and whom only an accident had saved. 

“That is Satan incarnate,” exclaimed Idris, with face 
pallid with fright and emotion. 

“He would have shot us like wild geese for food,” 
added Gebhr. 

“Ah, if it was not for that dog.” 

“God sent him.” 

“And you wanted to kill him?” said Chamis. 

“From this time no one shall touch him.” 

“He shall always have bones and water.” 

“Allah! Allah!” repeated Idris, not being able to 
compose himself. “Death was upon us. Ugh!” 

And they began to stare at Stas lying there, with hatred 
but with a certain wonder that one small boy might have 
been the cause of their calamity and destruction. 

“By the prophet!” spoke out one of the Bedouins, “it 
is necessary to prevent this son of Iblis from twisting our 
necks. We are taking a viper to the Mahdi. What do 
you intend to do with him?” 


96 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


“We must cut off his right hand!”’ exclaimed Gebhr. 

The Bedouins did not answer, but Idris would not con- | 
sent to this proposition. It occurred to him that if the 
pursuers should capture them, a more terrible punish- 
ment would be meted to them for the mutilation of the 
boy. Finally, who could guarantee that Stas would not 
die after such an operation? In such a case for the ex- 
change of Fatma and her children only Nell would re- 
main. So when Gebhr pulled out his knife with the in- 
tention of executing his threat, Idris seized him by the 
wrist and held it. 

“No!” he said. “It would be a disgrace for five of the 
Mahdi’s warriors to fear one Christian whelp so much as 
to cut off his fist; we will bind him for the night, and for 
that which he wanted to do, he shall receive ten lashes 
of the courbash.” 

Gebhr was ready to execute the sentence at once but 
Idris again pushed him away and ordered the flogging to 
be done by one of the Bedouins, to whom he whispered 
not to hit very hard. As Chamis, perhaps out of regard 
for his former service with the engineers or perhaps from 
some other reason, did not want to mix in the matter, 
the other Bedouin turned Stas over with his back up and 
the punishment was about to take place, when at that mo- 
ment an unexpected obstacle came. 

At the opening of the niche Nell appeared with Saba. 

Occupied with her pet, who, dashing into the cave, 
threw himself at once at her little feet, she had heard the 
shouts of the Arabs, but, as in Egypt Arabs as well as 
Bedouins yell on every occasion as if they are about to 
annihilate each other, she did not pay any attention to 
them. Not until she called Stas and received no reply 
from him, did she go out to see whether he was not already 
seated on the camels. With terror she saw in the first 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 97 


luster of the morning Stas lying on the ground and above 
him a Bedouin with a courbash in his hand. At the sight 
of this she screamed with all her strength and stamped 
with her little feet, and when the Bedouin, not paying 
any attention to this, aimed the first blow, she flung her- 
self forward and covered the boy with her body. 

The Bedouin hesitated, as he did not have an order 
to strike the little girl, and in the meantime her voice 
resounded full of despair and horror: 

“Saba! Saba!’ 

And Saba understood what was the matter and in one 
leap was in the niche. The hair bristled on his neck and 
back, his eyes flamed redly, in his breast and powerful 
throat there was a rumble as if of thunder. 

And afterwards, the lips of his wrinkled jaws rose 
slowly upward and the teeth as well as the white fangs, 
an inch long, appeared as far as the bloody gums. The 
giant mastiff now began to turn his head to the right and to 
the left as if he wanted to display well his terrible equip- 
ment to the Sudanese and Bedouins and tell them: 

“Look! here is something with which I shall defend 
the children!”’ 

They, on the other hand, retreated hurriedly for they 
knew in the first place that Saba had saved their lives 
and again that it was a clear thing that whoever approached 
Nell at that moment would have the fangs of the in- 
furiated mastiff sunk at once in his throat. So they 
stood irresolute, staring with an uncertain gaze and as 
if asking one another what in the present situation had 
better be done. 

Their hesitation continued so long that Nell had suf- 
ficient time to summon old Dinah and order her to cut 
Stas’ bonds. Then the boy, placing his hand on Saba’s 
head, turned to his assailants: 


98 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


“T did not want to kill you — only the camels,” he 
said through his set teeth. 

But this information so startled the Arabs that they 
undoubtedly would have again rushed at Stas were it 
not for Saba’s flaming eyes and bristling hair. Gebhr 
even started to dash towards him, but one hollow growl 
riveted him to the spot. 

A moment of silence followed, after which Idris’ loud 
voice resounded: 


“To the road! To the road!” 


XI 


A pay passed, a night, and yet another day and they 
drove constantly southward, halting only for a_ brief 
time in the khors in order not to fatigue the camels too 
much, to water and feed them, and also to divide their 
provisions and water. From fear of the pursuit they 
turned yet farther to the west, for they did not have to 
concern themselves about water for some time. The 
downpour had lasted indeed not more than seven hours, 
but it was as tremendous as if a cloud-burst had occurred 
on the desert. Idris and Gebhr as well as the Bedouins 
knew that on the beds of the khors and in those places 
where the rocks formed natural cavities and wells they 
would, for a few days, find enough water to suffice not 
only for their and the camels’ immediate wants but even 
for replenishing their supplies. After the great rain, as 
usual, splendid weather followed. The sky was cloud- 
less, and the air so transparent that the view reached 
over an immeasurable distance. At night the heaven, 
studded with stars, twinkled and sparkled as if with 
thousands of diamonds. From the desert sands came 
a refreshing coolness. 

The camel-humps already grew smaller but the ani- 
mals, being well-fed, were, according to the Arabian expres- 
sion, “harde,” that is, they were unimpaired in strength 
and ran so willingly that the caravan advanced but little 
slower than on the first day after their departure from 


100 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


Gharak el-Sultani. Stas with astonishment observed 
that in some of the khors, in rocky fissures protected 
from rain, were supplies of durra and dates. He in- 
ferred from this that, before their abduction, certain 
preparations were made and everything was pre-arranged 
between Fatma, Idris, and Gebhr on one side and the 
Bedouins on the other. It was also easy to surmise that 
both the Bedouins were Mahdist adherents and believers, 
who wanted to join their leader, and for that reason were 
easily drawn into the plot by the Sudanese. In the neigh- 
borhood of Fayim and around Gharak el-Sultani there 
were quite a number of Bedouins who with their children 
and camels led a migratory life on the desert and came to 
Medinet and the railway stations for gain. 

Stas, however, had never seen these two before, and 
they also could not have been in Medinet, for it appeared 
they did not know Saba. 

The idea of attempting to bribe them occurred to the 
boy, but recollecting their shouts, full of fervor, whenever 
the name of the Mahdi was mentioned by them, he deemed 
this an impossibility. Nevertheless, he did not submit 
passively to the events, for in that boyish soul there was 
imbedded a really astonishing energy, which was inflamed 
by the past failures. 

“Everything which I have undertaken,” he solilo- 
quized, “ended in my getting a whipping. But even 
if they flog me with that courbash every day and even 
kill me, I will not stop thinking of rescuing Nell and 
myself from the hands of these villains. If the pursuers 
capture them, so much the better. I, however, will act 
as if I did not expect them.” And at the recollection 
of what he had met at the thought of those treacherous 
and cruel people who, after snatching away the rifle, 


had belabored him with fists and kicked him, his heart 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 101 


rebelled and rancor grew. He felt not only vanquished 
but humiliated by them in his pride as a white man. 
Above all, however, he felt Nell’s wrong and this feeling, 
with the bitterness which intensified within him after 
the last failure, changed into an inexozahle hatred of 
both Sudanese. He had often heard, indeed, from, his 
father that hatred blinds, and that only, sueh, sculs yield: 
to it as are incapable of anything better; but for the 
time being he could not subdue it within him, and did 
not know how to conceal it. 

He did not know to what extent Idris had observed 
it and had begun to get uneasy, understanding that, in 
case the pursuing party should capture them, he could 
not depend upon the boy’s intercession. Idris was always 
ready for the most audacious deed, but as a man not 
deprived of reason, he thought that it was necessary to 
provide for everything and in case of misfortune to leave 
some gate of salvation open. For this reason, after the 
last occurrence he wanted in some manner to conciliate 
Stas and, with this object, at the first stop, he began 
the following conversation with him. 

“After what you wanted to do,” he said, “I had to 
punish you as otherwise they would have killed you, but 
I ordered the Bedouin not to strike you hard.” 

And when he received no reply, he, after a while, con- 
tinued thus: 

“Listen! you yourself have said that the white people 
always keep their oath. So if you will swear by your 
God and by the head of that little ‘bint’ that you will do 
nothing against us, then I will not order you to be bound 
for the night.” 

Stas did not answer a single word to this and only 
from the glitter of his eyes did Idris perceive that he 
spoke in vain. 


102 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


Nevertheless, notwithstanding the urging of Gebhr 
and the Bedouins, he did not order him to be bound for 
the night, and when Gebhr did not cease his importunities, 
_ he replied with anger: 

. “Tusteail of going to sleep, you will to-night stand on 
| guard... I have decided that from this time one of us shall 


a watch during the sleep of the others.” 


And in reality a change of guards was introduced 
permanently from that day. This rendered more difficult 
and completely frustrated all plans of Stas to whom 
every sentinel paid watchful attention. 

But on the other hand the children were left in greater 
freedom so that they could approach each other and 
converse without hindrance. Immediately after the first 
stop Stas sat close to Nell for he was anxious to thank her 
for her aid. 

But though he felt great gratitude to her he did not 
know how to express himself, either in a lofty style or 
tenderly; so he merely began to shake both of her little 
hands. 

“Nell!” he said, “you are very good and I thank you; 
and besides this I frankly say that you acted like a person 
of at least thirteen years.” 

On Stas’ lips words like these were the highest praise; 
so the heart of the little woman was consumed with joy 
and pride. It seemed to her at that moment that noth- 
ing was impossible. “Wait till I grow up, then they 
will see!” she replied, throwing a belligerent glance in 
the direction of the Sudanese. 

But as she did not understand the cause of the trouble 
and why all the Arabs rushed at Stas, the boy told her 
how he had determined to purloin the rifle, kill the camels, 
and force all to return to the river. 

“Tf I had succeeded,” he said, “we would now be free.”’ 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 103 


“But they awoke?” asked the little girl with palpitat- 
ing heart. 

“They did. That was caused by Saba, who came run- 
ning toward me, barking loud enough to awaken the dead.” 

Then her indignation was directed against Saba. 

“Nasty Saba! nasty! For this when he comes running 
up to me:I won’t speak a word to him and will tell him 
that he is horrid.” 

At this Stas, though he was not in a laughing mood, 
laughed and asked: 

“How will you be able not to say a word to him and 
at the same time tell him he is horrid?” 

Nell’s eyebrows rose and her countenance reflected 
embarrassment, after which she said: 

“He will know that from my looks.” 

“Perhaps. But he is not to blame, for he could not 
know what was happening. Remember also that after- 
wards he came to our rescue.” 

This recollection placated Nell’s anger a little. She 
did not, however, want to grant pardon to the culprit 
at once. 

“That is very well,” she said, “but a real gentleman 
ought not to bark on greeting.” 

Stas burst out laughing again. 

“Neither does a real gentleman bark on leave-taking 
unless he is a dog, and Saba is one.” 

But after a while sorrow dimmed the boy’s eyes; he 
sighed once, then again; after which he rose from the 
stone on which they sat and said: 

“The worst is that I could not free you.” 

And Nell raised herself on her little toes and threw 
her arms around his neck. She wanted to cheer him; she 
wanted, with her little nose close to his face, to whisper 
her gratitude, but, as she could not find appropriate words, 


104 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


she only squeezed his neck yet more tightly and kissed 
his ear. In the meantime Saba, always late — not so 
much because he was unable to keep pace with the camels, 
but because he hunted for jackals on the way, or drove 
away vultures perched on the crests of rocks with his 
barking — came rushing up, making his customary noise. 
The children at the sight of him forgot about everything, 
and notwithstanding their hard situation began their 
usual caresses and play until they were interrupted by 
the Arabs. Chamis gave the dog food and water, after 
which all mounted the camels and started with the 
greatest speed southward. 


XII 


Ir was their longest journey, for they rode with small 
interruption for eighteen hours. Only real saddle-camels, 
having a good supply of water in their stomachs, could 
endure such a drive. Idris did not spare them, for 
he really feared the pursuit. He understood that it 
must have started long ago, and he assumed that both 
engineers would be at its head and would not lose any 
time. Danger threatened from the direction of the river, 
for it was certain that immediately after the abduction 
telegraphic orders were despatched to all settlements on 
the banks directing the sheiks to start expeditions into 
the interior of the desert on both sides of the Nile, and 
to detain all parties riding southward. Chamis assured 
the others that the Government and engineers must have 
offered a large reward for their capture and that in con- 
sequence of this the desert was undoubtedly swarming 
with searching parties. The only course to pursue would 
be to turn as far as possible to the west; but on the west 
lay the great oasis of Kharga, to which despatches also 
could reach, and besides, if they rode too far west they 
would lack water after a few days, and death from thirst 
would await them. 

And the question of food became a vital one. The 
Bedouins in the course of the two weeks preceding the 
abduction of the children had placed in hiding-places, 
supplies of durra, biscuits, and dates, but only for a dis- 


106 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


tance of four days’ journey from Medinet. Idris, with 
fear, thought that when provisions should be lacking it 
would be imperatively necessary to send men to pur- 
chase supplies at the villages on the river banks, and then 
these men, in view of the aroused vigilance and reward 
offered for the capture of the fugitives, might easily fall 
into the hands of the local sheiks, — and betray the whole 
caravan. The situation was indeed difficult, almost 
desperate, and Idris each day perceived more plainly upon 
what an insane undertaking he had ventured. 

“Tf we could only pass Assuan! If we could only pass 
Assuan!”’ he said to himself with alarm and despair in 
his soul. He did not indeed believe Chamis who claimed 
that the Mahdi’s warriors had already reached Assuan, 
as Stas denied this. 

Idris long since perceived that the white “uled” knew 
more than all of them. But he supposed that beyond the 
first cataract, where the people were wilder and less sus- 
ceptible to the influences of Englishmen and the Egyp- 
tian Government, he would find more adherents of the 
prophet, who in a case of emergency would give them 
succor, and would furnish food and camels. But it was, 
as the Bedouins reckoned, about five days’ journey to 
Assuan over a road which became more and more deso- 
late, and every stop visibly diminished their supplies for 
man and beast. 

Fortunately they could urge the camels and drive with 
the greatest speed, for the heat did not exhaust their 
strength. During daytime, at the noon hour, the sun, 
indeed, scorched strongly but the air was continually in- 
vigorating and the nights so cool that Stas, with the 
consent of Idris, changed his seat to Nell’s camel, desiring 
to watch over her and protect her from catching cold. 

But his fears were vain, as Dinah, whose eyes, or rather, 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 107 


eye, improved considerably, watched with great solici- 
tude over her little lady. The boy was even surprised 
that the little one’s health thus far did not suffer any im- 
pairment and that she bore the journey, with ever- 
decreasing stops, as well as himself. Grief, fear, and the 
tears which she shed from longing for her papa evidently 
did not harm her much. Perhaps her slightly emaciated 
and bright little countenance was tanned by the wind, 
but in the later days of the journey she felt far less fatigued 
than at the beginning. It is true that Idris gave her the 
easiest carrying camel and had made an excellent saddle 
so that she could sleep in it lying down; nevertheless the 
desert air, which she breathed day and night, mainly 
gave her strength to endure the hardships and irregular 
hours. 

Stas not only watched over her but intentionally sur- 
rounded her with a worship which, notwithstanding his 
immense attachment to his little sister, he did not at 
all feel for her. He observed, however, that this affected 
the Arabs and that they involuntarily were fortified in 
the conviction that they were bearing something of 
unheard-of value, some exceptionally important female 
captive, with whom it was necessary to act with the 
greatest possible care. Idris had been accustomed to this 
while at Medinet; so now all treated her well. They did 
not spare water and dates for her. The cruel Gebhr would 
not now have dared to raise his hand against her. Perhaps 
the extraordinarily fine stature of the little girl contributed 
to this, and also that there was in her something of the na- 
ture of a flower and of a bird, and this charm even the sav- 
age and undeveloped souls of the Arabs could not resist. 
Often also, when at a resting place she stood by the fire 
fed by the roses of Jericho or thorns, rosy from the flame 
and silvery in the moonlight, the SudAnese as well as the 


108 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


Bedouins could not tear their eyes from her, smacking 
their lips from admiration, according to their habit, and 
murmuring: 

“Allah! Mashallah! Bismillah!” 

The second day at noon after that long rest, Stas and 
Nell who rode this time on the same camel, had a moment 
of joyful emotion. Immediately after sunrise a light and 
transparent mist rose over the desert, but it soon fell. 
Afterwards when the sun ascended higher, the heat be- 
came greater than during the previous days. At mo- 
ments when the camels halted there could not be felt the 
slightest breeze, so that the air as well as the sands seemed 
to slumber in the warmth, in the light, and in the still- 
ness. The caravan had just ridden upon a great monot- 
onous level ground, unbroken by khors, when suddenly 
a wonderful spectacle presented itself to the eyes of the 
children. Groups of slender palms and pepper trees, 
plantations of mandarins, white houses, a small mosque 
with projecting minaret, and, lower, walls surrounding 
gardens, all these appeared with such distinctness and at 
distance so close that one might assume that after the 
lapse of half an hour the caravan would be amid the trees 
of the oasis. 

“What is this?” exclaimed Stas. “Nell, Nell! Look!” 

Nell rose, and for a time was silent with astonishment, 
but after a while began to ery with joy: 

“Medinet! to papa! to papa!” 

And Stas turned pale from emotion. 

“Truly — Perhaps that is Kharga— But no! That 
is Medinet perhaps —I recognize the minaret and even 
see the windmills above the wells — ” 

In fact, in the distance the highly elevated American 
windmills resembling great white stars, actually glis- 
tened. On the verdant background of the trees they 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 109 


could be seen so perfectly that Stas’ keen sight could dis- 
tinguish the borders of the vanes painted red. 

“That is Medinet! —”’ 

Stas knew from books and narratives that there were 
on the desert phantasms known as “fata morgana”’ and 
that sometimes travelers happen to see oases, cities, tufts 
of trees and lakes, which are nothing more than an 
illusion, a play of light, and a reflection of real distant 
objects. But this time the phenomenon was so distinct, 
so well-nigh palpable that he could not doubt that he saw 
the real Medinet. There was the turret upon the Mudir’s 
house, there the circular balcony near the summit of the 
minaret from which the muezzin called to prayers, there 
that familiar group of trees, and particularly those wind- 
mills. No, —that must be the reality. It occurred to the 
boy that the Sudanese, reflecting upon their situation, 
had come to the conclusion that they could not escape 
and, without saying anything to him, had turned back 
to Fayim. But their calmness suggested to him the first 
doubts. If that really was Fayiim, would they gaze 
upon it so indifferently? They, of course, saw the phe- 
nomenon and pointed it out to each other with their 
fingers, but on their faces could not be seen the least 
perplexity or emotion. Stas gazed yet once more and 
perhaps this indifference of the Arabs caused the picture 
to seem fainter to him. He also thought that, if in truth 
they were returning, the caravan would be grouped to- 
gether, and the men, though only from fear, would ride 
in a body. But, in the meanwhile, the Bedouins, who, 
by Idris’ order, for the past few days drove considerably 
in advance, could not be seen at all; while Chamis, riding 
as a rear guard, appeared at a distance not greater than 
the vulture lying on the ground. 

“Fata Morgana,” said Stas to himself. 


110 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


In the meantime Idris approached him and shouted: 

“Heigh! Speed your camel! You see Medinet!” 

He evidently spoke jokingly and there was so much 
spite in his voice that the last hope that the real Medinet 
was before him vanished in the boy’s heart. 

And with sorrow in his heart he turned to Nell to dispel 
her delusion, when unexpectedly an incident occurred 
which drew the attention of all in another direction. 

At first a Bedouin appeared, running towards them at 
full speed and brandishing from afar a long Arabian rifle 
which no one in the caravan possessed before that time. 
Reaching Idris, he exchanged a few hurried words with 
him, after which the caravan turned precipitately into 
the interior of the desert. But, after a time, the other 
Bedouin appeared leading by a rope a fat she-camel, 
with a saddle on its hump and leather bags hanging on 
its sides. A short conversation commenced, of which 
Stas could not catch a word. The caravan in full speed 
made for the west. It halted only when they chanced 
upon a narrow khor full of rocks scattered in wild dis- 
order, and of fissures and caverns. One of these was so 
spacious that the Sudaénese hid the people and camels 
in it. Stas, although he conjectured more or less what had 
happened, lay beside Idris and pretended to sleep, hoping 
that the Arabs, who thus far had exchanged but a few 
words about the occurrence, would now begin to speak 
about it. In fact, his hope was not disappointed, for 
immediately after pouring out fodder for the camels, the 
Bedouins and the Sudanese with Chamis sat down for a 
consultation. 

“Henceforth we can ride only in the night; in the 
daytime we will have to hide!” spoke out the one-eyed 
Bedouin. “There will be many khors now and in each 
one of them we will find a safe hiding-place.” 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 111 


“ Are you sure that he was a sentinel?” asked Idris. 

“ Allah! We spoke with him. Luckily there was only one. 
He stood hidden by a rock, so that we could not see him, 
but we heard from a distance the cry of his camel. Then 
we slackened our speed and rode up so quietly that he 
saw us only when we were a few paces away. He became 
very frightened and wanted to aim his rifle at us. If he 
had fired, though he might not have killed any of us, the 
other sentinels would have heard the shot; so, as hur- 
riedly as possible, I yelled to him: ‘Halt! we are pursuing 
men who kidnapped two white children, and soon the 
whole pursuit will be here.’ The boy was young and 
foolish, so he believed us; only he ordered us to swear on 
the Koran that such was the case. We got off our camels 
and swore — ”’ 

“The Mahdi will absolve us — ”’ 

“And bless you,” said Idris. “Speak! what did you do 
afterwards?” 

“Now,” continued the Bedouin, “when we swore, I 
said to the boy: ‘But who can vouch that you yourself do 
not belong to the outlaws who are running away with 
the white children, and whether they did not leave you 
here to hold back the pursuit?’ And I ordered him also 
to take an oath. To this he assented and this caused him 
to believe us all the more. We began to ask him whether 
any orders had come over the copper wire to the sheiks 
and whether a pursuit was organized. He replied: ‘ Yes! 
and told us that a great reward was offered, and that all 
khors at a two days’ distance from the river were guarded, 
and that the great ‘baburs’ (steamers), with English- 
men and troops are continually floating over the river.”’ 

“Neither the ‘baburs’ nor the troops can avail against 
the might of Allah and the prophet — ” 

“May it be as you say!” 


112 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


“Tell us how you finished with the boy?”’ 

The one-eyed Bedouin pointed at his companion. 

“ Abu-Anga,” he said, “asked him whether there was 
not another sentinel near-by, and the sentinel replied that 
there was not; then Abu-Anga thrust his knife into the 
sentinel’s throat so suddenly that he did not utter a word. 
We threw him into a deep cleft and covered him with 
stones and thorns. In the village they will think that 
he ran away to the Mahdi, for he told us that this does 
happen.” 

“May God bless those who run away as he blessed you,” 
answered Idris. 

“Yes! He did bless us,” retorted Abu-Anga, “for we 
now know that we will have to keep at a three days’ dis- 
tance from the river, and besides we captured a rifle 
which we needed and a milch she-camel.”’ 

“The gourds,’ added the one-eyed, “are filled with 
water and there is considerable millet in the sacks; but 
we found but little powder.” 

“Chamis is carrying a few hundred cartridges for the 
white boy’s rifle, from which we cannot shoot. Powder is 
always the same and can be used in ours.” 

Saying this, Idris nevertheless pondered, and heavy 
anxiety was reflected in his dark face, for he understood 
that when once a corpse had fallen to the ground, Stas’ 
intercession would not secure immunity for them from 
trial and punishment, if they should fall into the hands 
of the Egyptian Government. 

Stas listened with palpitating heart and strained at- 
tention. In that conversation there were some comfort- 
ing things, especially that a pursuit was organized, that 
a reward was offered, and that the sheiks of the tribes on 
the river banks had received orders to detain caravans 
going southward. The boy was comforted also by the 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 113 


intelligence about steamers filled with English troops 
plying on the upper river. The dervishes of the Mahdi 
might cope with the Egyptian army and even defeat it, 
but it was an entirely different matter with English people, 
and Stas did not doubt for a moment that the first battle 
would result in the total rout of the savage multitude. 
So, with comfort in his soul, he soliloquized thus: “ Even 
though they wish to bring us to the Mahdi, it may happen 
that before we reach his camp there will not be any Mahdi 
or his dervishes.” But this solace was embittered by 
the thought that in such case there awaited them whole 
weeks of travel, which in the end must exhaust Nell’s 
strength, and during all this time they would be forced 
to remain in the company of knaves and murderers. At 
the recollection of that young Arab, whom the Bedouins 
had butchered like a lamb, fear and sorrow beset Stas. 
He decided not to speak of it to Nell in order not to 
frighten her and augment the sorrow she felt after the 
disappearance of the illusory picture of the oasis of 
Fayfim and the city of Medinet. He saw before their 
arrival at the ravine that tears were involuntarily surging 
to her eyes; therefore, when he had learned everything 
which he wished to know from the Bedouins’ narratives, 
he pretended to awake and walked towards her. She 
sat in a corner near Dinah, eating dates, moistened a 
little with her tears. But seeing Stas, she recollected 
that not long before he declared that her conduct was 
worthy of a person of at least thirteen years; so, not 
desiring to appear again as a child, she bit the kernel 
of a date with the full strength of her little teeth, so as 
to suppress her sobs. 

“Nell,” said the boy, “ Medinet — that was an illusion, 
but I know for a certainty that we are being pursued; 
so don’t grieve, and don’t cry.” 


114 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


At this the little girl raised towards him her tearful 
pupils and replied in a broken voice: 

“No, Stas —I do not want to cry — only my eyes — 
perspire so.” 

But at that moment her chin began to quiver; from 
under her closed eyelashes big tears gushed and she wept 
in earnest. 

However, as she was ashamed of her tears and expected 
a rebuke for them from Stas, a little from shame and a 
little from fear she hid her head on his bosom, wetting 
his clothes copiously. 

But he at once consoled her. 

“Nell, don’t be a fountain. You saw that they took 
away from some Arab a rifle and a she-camel. Do you 
know what that means? It means that the desert is full 
of soldiers. Once these wretches succeeded in trapping 
a sentinel, but the next time they themselves will get 
caught. A large number of steamboats are plying over 
the Nile also— Why, of course, Nell, we will return. We 
will return, and in a steamer to boot. Don’t be afraid.” 

And he would have comforted her further in this man- 
ner, were not his attention attracted by a strange sound 
coming from the outside, from the sand-drifts, which 
the hurricane blew onto the bottom of the ravine. It 
was something resembling the thin, metallic notes of a 
reed pipe. Stas broke off the conversation and began 
to listen. After a while these very thin and mournful 
sounds came from many sides simultaneously. Through 
the boy’s mind the thought flashed that these might be 
Arabian guards surrounding the ravine and summoning 
aid with whistles. His heart began to beat. He glanced 
once and again at the Sudanese, hoping that he would 
behold consternation on their faces; but no! Idris, 
Gebhr and the two Bedouins calmly chewed biscuits, only 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 115 


Chamis appeared a little surprised. The sounds con- 
tinued. After a while Idris rose and looked out of the 
cavern; returning, he stopped near the children, and said: 

“The sands are beginning to sing.”’ 

Stas’ curiosity was so aroused that he forgot that he 
had determined not to speak to Idris any more and asked: 

“Sands? What does it mean?” 

“Tt happens thus, and means that for a long time there 
will be no rain. But the heat will not distress us, since 
as far as Assuan we will ride only during the night.” 

And no more could be learned from him. Stas and Nell 
listened long to these peculiar sounds which continued 
until the sun descended in the west, after which night 
fell and the caravan started on its further journey. 


XIII 


In the daytime they hid in places concealed and difficult 
of access, amid rocks and chasms, and during the night 
they hurried, without respite, until they passed the First 
Cataract. When finally the Bedouins discerned from 
the situation and form of the khors that Assuan was 
behind them, a great burden fell off Idris’ breast. As 
they suffered already from want of water they drew 
nearer to the river a half day’s distance. There Idris, 
concealing the caravan, sent all the camels with the Bed- 
ouins to the Nile in order to water them well and for a 
longer time. Beyond Assuan the fertile belt along the 
river was narrower. In some places the desert reached 
the river; the villages lay at a considerable distance 
from each other. The Bedouins, therefore, returned 
successfully, unseen by any one, with a considerable 
supply of water. It was necessary now to think of pro- 
visions. As the animals had been fed sparingly during 
the past week they grew lean; their necks lengthened, 
their. humps sank, and their legs became weak. The 
durra and the supplies for the people, with the greatest 
stint, would suffice for two days more. Idris thought, 
however, that they might, if not during daytime then 
at night, approach the pastures on the river banks and 
perhaps buy biscuits and dates in some village. Saba 
already was given nothing at all to eat or drink, and 
the children hid leavings of food for him, but he somehow 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 117 


managed to take care of himself and came running to the 
stopping places with bleeding jaws and marks of bites 
on his neck and breast. Whether the victim of these 
fights was a jackal, or a hyena, or perhaps a desert fox 
or a gazelle no one knew; it was enough that there were 
no signs of great hunger on him. At times also his black 
lips were moist as if he drank. The Bedouins surmised 
that he must have dug deep holes at the bottom of the 
ravines, and in this manner reached water which he 
scented under the ground. In this manner travelers 
who get lost dig the bottoms of chasms and, if they do 
not often find water, they almost always reach damp 
sand and, sucking it, cheat in this way the pangs of thirst. 
In Saba, however, considerable changes took place. He 
still had a powerful breast and neck, but his sides were 
sunken, through which he appeared taller. In his eyes, 
about the reddened whites, there was now something 
savage and threatening. To Nell and to Stas he was 
as attached as previously and permitted them to do with 
him whatever they pleased. He still at times wagged 
his tail at Chamis, but he growled at the Bedouins and 
Sudanese or snapped with his terrible teeth, which at 
such times clashed against each other like steel nails. 
Idris and Gebhr plainly began to fear and hate him to 
the extent that they would have killed him with the 
captured rifle, were it not that they desired to bring this 
extraordinary animal to Smain, and were it not also that 
they had already passed Assuan. 

They had passed Assuan! Stas thought of this con- 
tinually, and doubt that the pursuit would ever overtake 
them stole gradually into his soul. He knew, indeed, that 
not only Egypt proper, which ends at Wadi Halfa, that 
is, at the Second Cataract, but the whole of Nubia was 
up to that time in the hands of the Egyptian Government, 


118 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


but he also understood that beyond Assuan and particu- 
larly Wadi Halfa the pursuit would be more difficult 
and the commands of the Government would be executed 
carelessly. His only hope was that his father with Mr. 
Rawlinson, after making arrangements for the pursuit 
from Fayfim, would go to Wadi Halfa by steamer, and 
there securing troops of the camel-corps, would endeavor 
to intercept the caravan from the south. The boy reasoned 
that if he were in their place he would do just this, and for 
that reason he assumed that his supposition was very 
probable. 

He did not, however, abandon the thought of a rescue 
on his own account. The Sudénese wanted to have powder 
for the captured rifle and with this object decided to dis- 
join a score of the rifle cartridges, so he told them that 
he alone was able to do that, and that if any one of them 
should undertake the task unskilfully, the cartridge 
would explode in his fingers and tear off his hands. 
Idris, fearing English inventions and unknown things 
generally, determined finally to entrust the boy with this 
undertaking. Stas went at it willingly, hoping in the 
first place that the powerful English powder at the first 
shot would burst the old Arabian rifle to pieces, and, 
again, that he might be able to hide a few cartridges. 
In fact, he succeeded more easily than he expected. Ap- 
parently they watched him at the work, but the Arabs 
began at once to talk among themselves and soon they were 
more occupied with their conversation than with their 
supervision. Finally this loquacity and inbred careless- 
ness permitted Stas to conceal in his bosom seven car- 
tridges. Now all that was necessary was to secure the 
rifle. 

The boy judged that beyond WAdi Halfa, the Second 
Cataract, this would not be a very difficult matter as he 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 119 


foresaw that as they drew nearer to their destination 
the Arabs’ vigilance would relax. The thought that he 
would have to kill the Sudanese, the Bedouins, and even 
Chamis, always caused him to shudder, but after the 
murder which the Bedouins had committed, he did not 
have any scruples. He said to himself that the defense, 
liberty, and life of Nell were involved, and in view of this 
the lives of his adversaries did not deserve any considera- 
tion, especially if they did not surrender and it came to 
a fight. 

But he was anxious about the short rifle. Stas resolved 
to secure it by stratagem, whenever the opportunity pre- 
sented itself, and not to wait until they reached Wadi 
Halfa, but perform the deed as soon as possible. 

Accordingly he did not wait. 

Two days had elapsed since they passed Assuan, and 
Idris finally at the dawn of the third day was forced to 
despatch the Bedouins for provisions, which were totally 
lacking. In view of the diminished number of adversaries 
Stas said to himself: “Now or never!” and immediately 
turned to the Sudanese with the following question: 

“Tdris, do you know that the country which begins 
not far beyond Wadi Halfa is really Nubia?” 

“T know. I was fifteen years old and Gebhr eight, 
when my father took us from the Sudan to Fayiim, and I 
remember that we rode at that time on camels over the 
whole of Nubia. But this country belongs still to the 
Turks (Egyptians).” 

“Yes. The Mahdi is only before Khartim and you 
see how foolishly Chamis chattered when he told you 
that the army of dervishes reached as far as Assuan. 
However, I shall ask you something else. Now I have 
read that in Nubia there are many wild animals and 
many brigands who do not serve any one and who attack 


120 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


alike the Egyptians and the faithful Mahdists. With 
what will you defend yourself, if wild animals or brigands 
attack you?”’ 

Stas purposely exaggerated in speaking of wild animals, 
but, on the other hand, highway robberies in Nubia, 
from the time of the war, occurred quite frequently, 
particularly in the southern part of the country bordering 
upon the Sudan. 

Idris pondered for a while over the question, which 
surprised him, as heretofore he had not thought of these 
new dangers, and replied: 

“We have knives and a rifle.” 

“Such a rifle is good for nothing.” 

“T know. Yours is better, but we do not know how 
to shoot from it, and we will not place it in your hands.” 

“Even unloaded?” 

“Yes, for it may be bewitched.” 

Stas shrugged his shoulders. 

“Tdris, if Gebhr said that, I would not be surprised, 
but I thought that you had more sense. From an unloaded 
rifle even your Mahdi could not fire —” 

“Silence!” interrupted Idris sternly. “The Mahdi is 
able to fire even from his finger.”’ 

“Then you also can fire in that way.” 

The Sudanese looked keenly into the boy’s eyes. 

“Why do you want me to give you the rifle?” 

“T want to teach you how to fire from it.” 

“Why should that concern you?” 

“A great deal, for if the brigands attack us they might 
kill us all. But if you are afraid of the rifle and of me 
then it does not matter.” 

Idris was silent. In reality he was afraid, but did not 
want to admit it. He was anxious, however, to get ac- 
quainted with the English weapon, for its possession and 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 121 


skill in its use would increase his importance in the 
Mahdists’ camp, to say nothing of the fact that it 
would be easier for him to defend himself in case of an 
attack. 

So after a brief consideration he said: 

“Good. Let Chamis hand you the rifle-case and you 
can take it out.” 

Chamis indifferently performed the order, which Gebhr 
could not oppose, as he was occupied at some distance 
with the camels. Stas with quivering hands took out the 
stock and afterwards the barrels, and handed them to 
Idris. 

“You see they are empty.” 

Idris took the barrels and peered upwards through 
them. 

“Yes, there is nothing in them,” 

“Now observe,” said Stas. “This is the way to put a 
rifle together ” (and saying this he united the barrel and 
stock). “This is the way to open it. Do you see? I 
will take it apart again and you can put it together.” 

The Sudanese, who watched Stas’ motions with great 
attention, tried to imitate him. At first it was not easy 
for him, but as Arabians are well known for their skil- 
fulness, the rifle, after a while, was put together. 

“Open!” commanded Stas. 

Idris opened the rifle easily. 

TAClOses 

This was done yet more easily. 

“Now give me two empty shells. I will teach you how 
to load the cartridges.” 

The Arabs had kept the empty cartridges as they had 
a value for them as brass; so Idris handed two of them 
to Stas and the instruction began anew. 

The Sudanese at first was frightened a little by the 


122 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


crack of the caps of the shells, but finally became con- 
vinced that no one was able to fire from empty barrels 
and empty shells. In addition, his trust in Stas returned 
because the boy handed the weapon to him every little 
while. 

“Yes,” said Stas, “you already know how to put a 
rifle together, you know how to open, to close, and to 
pull the trigger. But now it is necessary for you to learn 
to aim. That is the most difficult thing. Take that 
empty water gourd and place it at a hundred paces — 
on those stones, and afterwards return to me; I will 
show you how to aim.” 

Idris took the gourd and without the slightest hesita- 
tion walked to the place by the stones which Stas had 
indicated. But before he made the first hundred steps, 
Stas extracted the empty shells and substituted loaded 
cartridges. Not only his heart but the arteries in his 
temples began to throb with such a force that he thought 
that his head would burst. The decisive moment arrived 
—the moment of freedom for Nell and himself — the 
moment of victory —terrible and at the same time 
desirable. 

Now Idris’ life was in his hands. One pull of the trig- 
ger and the traitor who had kidnapped Nell would fall 
a corpse. But Stas, who had in his veins both Polish 
and French blood, suddenly felt that for nothing in the 
world could he be capable of shooting a man in the back. 
Let him at least turn around and face death in the eye. 
And after that, what? After that, Gebhr would come 
rushing up, and before he ran ten paces he also would 
bite the dust. Chamis would remain. But Chamis would 
lose his head, and even though he should not lose it, there 
would be time to insert new cartridges in the barrels. 


When the Bedouins arrived, they would find three corpses, 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 123 


and meet a fate they richly deserved. After that he would 
only have to guide the camels to the river. 

All these thoughts and pictures flew like a whirlwind 
through Stas’ brain. He felt that what was to happen 
after a few minutes was at the same time horrible and im- 
perative. The pride of a conqueror surged in his breast 
with a feeling of aversion for the dreadful deed. There 
was a moment when he hesitated, but he recalled the 
tortures which the white prisoners endured; he recalled 
his father, Mr. Rawlinson, Nell, also Gebhr, who struck 
the little girl with a courbash, and hatred burst out in 
him with renewed force. “It is necessary!” he said through 
his set teeth, and inflexible determination was reflected 
on his countenance, which became as if carved out of 
stone. 

In the meantime Idris placed the gourd on a stone 
about a hundred paces distant and turned around. Stas 
saw his smiling face and his whole tall form upon the 
plain. For the last time the thought flashed through his 
mind that this living man would fall after a moment upon 
the ground, clutching the sand with his fingers in the last 
convulsions of the throes of death. But the hesitation 
of the boy ended, and when Idris sauntered fifty paces 
toward him, he began slowly to raise the weapon to his 
eye. 

But before he touched the trigger with his finger, from 
beyond the dunes, about a few hundred paces distant, 
could be heard tumultuous cheers, and in the same minute 
about twenty riders on horses and camels debouched on 
the plain. Idris became petrified at the sight. Stas was 
amazed no less, but at once amazement gave way to in- 
sane joy. The expected pursuit at last! Yes! That 
could not be anything else. Evidently the Bedouins had 
been captured in a village and were showing where the 


124 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


rest of the caravan was concealed! Idris thought the 
same. When he collected himself he ran to Stas, with 
face ashen from terror, and, kneeling at his feet, began 
to repeat in a voice out of breath: 

“Sir, I was kind to you! I was kind to the little ‘ bint’! 
Remember that!”’ 

Stas mechanically extracted the cartridges from the 
barrels and gazed. The riders drove horses and camels 
at the fullest speed, shouting from joy and flinging upwards 
their long Arabian rifles, which they caught while in full 
gallop with extraordinary dexterity. In the bright trans- 
‘parent air they could be seen perfectly. In the middle, 
at the van, ran the two Bedouins waving their hands 
and burnooses as if possessed. 

After a few minutes the whole band dashed to the 
caravan. Some of the riders leaped off the horses and 
camels; some remained on their saddles, yelling at the 
top of their voices. Amid these shouts only two words 
could be distinguished. 

“Khartim! Gordon! Gordon! Khartim!”’ 

Finally one of the Bedouins — the one whom his com- 
panion called Abu-Anga —ran up to Idris cringing at 
Stas’ feet, and began to exclaim: 

“Khartiim is taken! Gordon is killed! The Mahdi 
is victorious!” 

Idris stood erect but did not yet believe his ears. 

“ And these men?” he asked with quivering lips. 

“These men were to seize us, but now are going together 
with us to the prophet.” 

Stas’ head swam. 


XIV 


It was evident that the last hope of escaping during the 
journey had become extinct. Stas now knew that his 
schemes would avail nothing; that the pursuit would 
not overtake them, and that if they endured the hard- 
ships of the journey they would reach the Mahdi and 
would be surrendered to Smain. The only consolation 
now was the thought that they were kidnapped so that 
Smain might exchange them for his children. But when 
would that happen, and what would they encounter before 
that time? What dreadful misfortune awaited them 
among the savage hordes intoxicated with blood? Would 
Nell be able to endure all these fatigues and privations? 

This no one could answer. On the other hand, it 
was known that the Mahdi and his dervishes hated 
Christians, and Europeans in general; so in the soul of 
the boy there was bred a fear that the influence of Smain 
might not be sufficient to shield them from indig- 
nities, from rough treatment, from the cruelties and 
the rage of the Mahdist believers, who even murdered 
Mohammedans loyal to the Government. For the first 
time since the abduction deep despair beset the boy, and 
at the same time some kind of vague notion that 
an untoward fate was persecuting them. Why, the idea 
itself of abducting them from Fayfim and conveying 
them to Khartfim was sheer madness which could be 


126 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


committed only by such wild and foolish men as Idris 
and Gebhr, not understanding that they would have 
to traverse thousands of kilometers over a country sub- 
ject to the Egyptian Government or, more properly, 
English people. With proper methods they ought to 
have been caught on the second day, and nevertheless 
everything combined so that now they were not far from 
the Second Cataract and none of the preceding pursuing 
parties had overtaken them, and the last one which 
could have detained them joined the kidnappers and, 
from this time, would aid them. To Stas’ despair, 
to his fears about little Nell’s fate, was linked a feeling 
of humiliation that he was unequal to the situation and, 
what was more, was unable now to devise anything, for 
even if they returned the rifle and cartridges to him, 
he could not, of course, shoot all the Arabs composing 
the caravan. 

And he was gnawed all the more by these thoughts be- 
cause deliverance had been already so near. If Khartiim 
had not fallen, or if it had fallen only a few days later, 
these same men, who went over to the side of the Mahdi, 
would have seized their captors and delivered them to 
the Government. Stas, sitting on the camel behind Idris 
and listening to their conversation, became convinced 
that this undoubtedly would have happened. For, 
immediately after they proceeded upon their further 
journey, the leader of the pursuing party began to relate 
to Idris what induced them to commit treason to the 
Khedive. They knew previously that a great army — 
not an Egyptian now but an English one — had started 
southward against the dervishes under the command 
of General Wolseley. They saw a multitude of steamers, 
which carried formidable English soldiers from Assuan 
to Wadi Halfa, from whence a railroad was built for them 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 127 


to Abu Hamed. For a long time all the sheiks on the 
river banks, — those who remained loyal to the Govern- 
ment as well as those who in the depth of their souls 
favored the Mahdi, — were certain that the destruction 
of the dervishes and their prophet was inevitable, for 
no one had ever vanquished the Englishmen. 
“Akbar Allah!” interrupted Idris, raising his hands 
upwards. “Nevertheless, they have been vanquished.” 
“No,” replied the leader of the pursuing party. “The 
Mahdi sent against them the tribes of Jaalin, Barabra, 
and Janghey, nearly thirty thousand in all of his best 
warriors, under the command of Musa, the son of Helu. 
At Abu Klea a terrible battle took place in which God 
awarded the victory to the unbelievers. — Yes, it is so. 
Musa, the son of Helu, fell, and of his soldiers only a 
handful returned to the Mahdi. The souls of the others 
are in Paradise, while their bodies lie upon the sands, 
awaiting the day of resurrection. News of this spread 
rapidly over the Nile. Then we thought that the English 
would go farther south and relieve Khartim. The peo- 
ple repeated, ‘The end! the end!’ And in the meantime 
God disposed otherwise.” | 
“How? What happened?” asked Idris feverishly. 
“What happened?” said the leader with a brightened 
countenance. “Why, in the meantime the Mahdi captured 
Khartiim, and during the assault Gordon’s head was cut 
off. And as the Englishmen were concerned only about 
Gordon, learning of his death, they returned to the north. 
Allah! We again saw the steamers with the stalwart 
soldiers floating down the river, but did not understand 
what it meant. The English publish good news immedi- 
ately and suppress bad. Some of our people said that 
the Mahdi had already perished. But finally the truth 
came to the surface. This region belongs yet to the 


128 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


Government. In WaAadi Halfa and farther, as far as 
the Third and perhaps the Fourth Cataract, the soldiers 
of the Khedive can be found; nevertheless, after the 
retirement of the English troops, we believe now that the 
Mahdi will subdue not only Nubia and Egypt, not only 
Mecca and Medina, but the whole world. For that reason 
instead of capturing you and delivering you to the hands 
of the Government we are going together with you to 
the prophet.” 

“So orders came to capture us?”’ 

“To all the villages, to all the sheiks, to the military 
garrisons. Wherever the copper wire, over which fly the 
commands of the Khedive, does not reach, there came 
the ‘zabdis’ (gendarmes) with the announcement that 
whoever captures you will receive one thousand pounds 
reward. Mashallah! — That is great wealth! —Great!”’ 

Idris glanced suspiciously at the speaker. 

“But you prefer the blessing of the Mahdi?” 

“Yes. He captured such immense booty and so 
much money in Khartiim that he measures the Egyptian 
pounds in fodder sacks and distributes them among his 
faithful — ” 

“Nevertheless, if the Egyptian troops are yet in Wadi 
Halfa, and further, they may seize us on the way.” 

“No. It is necessary only to hurry before they re- 
cover their wits. Now since the retreat of the English- 
men they have lost their heads entirely — the sheiks, 
the loyal to the Government, as well as the soldiers and 
‘zabdis.’ All think that the Mahdi at any moment will 
arrive; for that reason those of us who in our souls favored 
him are now running to him boldly, and nobody is pur- 
suing us, for in the first moments no one is issuing orders 
and no one knows whom to obey.” 

“Yes,” replied Idris, “ you say truly that it is necessary 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 129 


to hurry, before they recover their wits, since Khartiim 
is yet far —” . 

For an instant a faint gleam of hope glimmered again 
for Stas. If the Egyptian soldiers up to that time occu- 
pied various localities on the banks in Nubia, then in 
view of the fact that the English troops had taken all 
the steamers, they would have to retreat before the 
Mahdi’s hordes by land. In such case it might happen 
that the caravan would encounter some retreating de- 
tachment and might be surrounded. Stas reckoned also 
that before the news of the capture of Khartiim circu- 
lated among the Arabian tribes north of Wadi Halfa, 
considerable time would elapse; the more so as the 
Egyptian Government and the English people suppressed 
it. He therefore assumed that the panic which must have 
prevailed among the Egyptians in the first moment must 
have already passed away. ‘To the inexperienced boy 
it never occurred that in any event the downfall of Khar- 
tim and the death of Gordon would cause people to forget 
about everything else, and that the sheiks loyal to the 
Government as well as the local authorities would now 
have something else to do than to think of rescuing two 
white children. 

And in fact the Arabs who joined the caravan did 
not fear the pursuit very much. They rode with great 
haste and did not spare the camels, but they kept close 
to the Nile and often during the night turned to the river 
to water the animals and to fill the leather bags with 
water. At times they ventured to ride to villages even 
in daytime. For safety they sent in advance for scout- 
ing afew men who, under the pretext of buying provisions, 
inquired for news of the locality; whether there were 
any Egyptian troops near-by and whether the inhabit- 
ants belonged to “the loyal Turks.” If they met resi- 


130 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


dents secretly favoring the Mahdi, then the entire caravan 
would visit the village, and often it happened that it was 
increased by a few or even a dozen or more young Arabs 
who also wanted to fly to the Mahdi. 

Idris learned also that almost all the Egyptian detach- 
ments were stationed on the side of the Nubian Desert, 
therefore on the right, the eastern side of the Nile. In 
order to avoid an encounter with them it was necessary 
only to keep to the left bank and to pass by the larger 
cities and settlements. This indeed lengthened their 
route a great deal, for the river, beginning at Wadi Halfa, 
forms a gigantic arch inclining far towards the south 
and afterwards again curving to the northeast as far as 
Abu Hamed, where it takes a direct southern course, 
but on the other hand this left bank, particularly from 
the Oasis of Selimeh, was left almost entirely unguarded. 
The journey passed merrily for the Sudanese in an in- 
creased company with an abundance of water and sup- 
plies. Passing the Third Cataract, they ceased even to 
hurry, and rode only at night, hiding during the day 
among sandy hills and ravines with which the whole 
desert was intersected. A cloudless sky now extended 
over them, gray at the horizon’s edges, bulging in the 
center like a gigantic cupola, silent and calm. With 
each day, however, the heat, in proportion to their south- 
ward advance, became more and more terrible, and even 
in the ravines, in the deep shade, it distressed the people 
and the beasts. On the other hand, the nights were very 
cool; they scintillated with twinkling stars which formed, 
as it were, greater and smaller clusters. Stas observed 
that they were not the same constellations which shone 
at night over Port Said. At times he had dreamed of 
seeing sometime in his life the Southern Cross, and finally 
beheld it beyond El-Ordeh. But at present its luster pro- 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 131 


claimed to him his own misfortune. For a few nights 
there shone for him the pale, scattered, and sad zodiacal 
light, which, after the waning of the evening twi- 
light, silvered until a late hour the western side of the 


sky. 


XV 


In two weeks after starting from the neighborhood of 
Wadi Halfa the caravan entered upon the region sub- 
dued by the Mahdi. They speedily crossed the hilly 
Jesira Desert, and near Shendi, where previously the 
English forces had completely routed Musa, Uled of 
Helu, they rode into a locality entirely unlike the desert. 
Neither sands nor dunes could be seen here. As far as 
the eye could reach stretched a steppe overgrown in 
part by green grass and in part by a jungle amid which 
grew clusters of thorny acacias, yielding the well-known 
Sudanese gum; while here and there stood solitary gigantic 
nabbuk trees, so expansive that under their boughs a hun- 
dred people could find shelter from the sun. From time 
to time the caravan passed by high, pillar-like hillocks of 
termites or white ants, with which tropical Africa is strewn. 
The verdure of the pasture and the acacias agreeably 
charmed the eyes after the monotonous, tawny-hued sands 
of the desert. 

In the places where the steppe was a meadow, herds 
of camels pastured, guarded by the armed warriors of 
_ the Mahdi. At the sight of the caravan they started up 
suddenly, like birds of prey; rushed towards it, surrounded 
it from all sides; and shaking their spears and at the same 
time yelling at the top of their voices they asked the men 
from whence they came, why they were going southward, 
and whither they were bound? At times they assumed 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 133 


such a threatening attitude that Idris was compelled to 
reply to their questions in the greatest haste in order to 
avoid attack. 

Stas, who had imagined that the inhabitants of the Sudén 
differed from other Arabs residing in Egypt only in this, 
that they believed in the Mahdi and did not want to ac- 
knowledge the authority of the Khedive, perceived that he 
was totally mistaken. The greater part of those who every 
little while stopped the caravan had skins darker than even 
Idris and Gebhr, and in comparison with the two Bedouins 
were almost black. The negro blood in them predomi- 
nated over the Arabian. Their faces and breasts were 
tattooed and the prickings represented various designs, 
or inscriptions from the Koran. Some were almost naked; 
others wore “jubhas” or wrappers of cotton texture 
sewed out of patches of various colors. A great many 
had twigs of coral or pieces of ivory in their pierced nos- 
trils, lips and ears. The heads of the leaders were covered 
with caps of the same texture as the wrappers, and the 
heads of common warriors were bare, but not shaven 
like those of the Arabs in Egypt. On the contrary, they 
were covered with enormous twisted locks, often singed 
red with lime, with which they rubbed their tufts of 
hair for protection against vermin. Their weapons were 
mainly spears, terrible in their hands; but they did not 
lack Remington carbines which they had captured in 
their victorious battles with the Egyptian army and after 
the fall of Khartiim. The sight of them was terrifying 
and their behavior toward the caravan was hostile, for 
they suspected that it consisted of Egyptian traders, 
whom the Mahdi, in the first moments after the victory, 
prohibited from entering the Sudan. 

Having surrounded the caravan, they pointed the 
spears with tumult and menace at the breasts of the 


134 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


people, or aimed carbines at them. To this hostile 
demonstration Idris answered with a shout that he and 
his brother belonged to the Dongolese tribe, the same 
as that of the Mahdi, and that they were convey- 
ing to the prophet two white children as slaves; this 
alone restrained the savages from violence. In Stas, 
when he came in contact with this dire reality, the spirit 
withered at the thought of what awaited them on the 
ensuing days. Idris, also, who previously had lived long 
years in a civilized community, had never imagined any- 
thing like this. He was pleased when one night they 
were surrounded by an armed detachment of the Emir 
Nur el-Tadhil and conducted to Khartim. 

Nur el-Tadhil, before he ran away to the Mahdi, was 
an Egyptian officer in a negro regiment of the Khedive: 
so he was not so savage as the other Mahdists and Idris 
could more easily make himself understood. But here 
disappointment awaited him. He imagined that his ar- 
rival at the Mahdi’s camp with the white children would 
excite admiration, if only on account of the extraordinary 
hardships and dangers of the journey. He expected that 
the Mahdists would receive him with ardor, with open 
arms, and lead him in triumph to the prophet, who would 
lavish gold and praises upon him as a man who had not 
hesitated to expose his head in order to serve his relative, 
Fatma. In the meantime the Mahdists placed spears at 
the breasts of members of the caravan, and Nur el-Tadhil 
heard quite indifferently his narrative of the journey, 
and finally to the question, whether he knew Smain, the 
husband of Fatma, answered: 

“No. In Omdurmén and Khartiim there are over one 
hundred thousand warriors, so it is easy not to meet one 
another, and not all the officers are acquainted with each 
other. The domain of the prophet is immense; therefore 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 135 


many emirs rule in distant cities in Sennar, in Kordofan, 
and Darfur, and around Fashoda. It may be that this 
Smain, of whom you speak, is not at present at the 
prophet’s side.”’ 

Idris was nettled by the slighting tone with which Nur 
spoke of “this Smain,” so he replied with a shade of 
impatience: 

“Smain is married to a first cousin of the Mahdi, and 
therefore Smain’s children are relatives of the prophet.” 

Nur el-Tadhil shrugged his shoulders. 

“The Mahdi has many relatives and cannot remember 
all of them.” 

For some time they rode in silence; after which Idris 
again asked: 

“How soon shall we arrive at Khartim?”’ 

“Before midnight,” replied el-Tadhil, gazing at the stars 
which began to appear in the eastern part of the heavens. 

“Shall we at that late hour be able to obtain food and 
fodder? Since our last rest at noon we have not eaten 
anything.” 

“You will pass this night with me and I shall feed you 
in my house, but to-morrow in Omdurman you will have 
to seek for food yourself, and I warn you in advance that 
this will not be an easy matter.” 

“cc Why?” 

“Because we have a war. The people for the past few 
years have not tilled the fields and have lived solely upon 
meat; so when finally cattle were lacking, famine came. 
There is famine in all the Sudan, and a sack of durra to- 
day costs more than a slave.” 

“Allah akbar!” exclaimed Idris with surprise, “I saw 
nevertheless herds of camels and cattle on the steppes.” 

“They belong to the prophet, to the ‘ Noble,’ ! and to 

1 The Noble — brothers and relatives of the Mahdi. 


136 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


the caliphs. — Yes— The Dongolese, from which tribe 
the Mahdi came and the Baggara, whose leader is the 
chief caliph, Abdullahi, have still quite numerous herds, 
but for other tribes it has become more and more difficult 
to live in the world.” 

Here Nur el-Tadhil patted his stomach, and said: 

“In the service of the prophet I have a higher rank, 
more money, and a greater authority, but I had a fuller 
stomach in the Khedive’s service.”’ 

But, realizing that he might have said too much, after 
a while he added: 

“ But all this will change when the true faith conquers.” 

Idris, hearing these words, involuntarily thought that 
nevertheless in Fayfim, in the service of the English- 
men, he had never. suffered from hunger, and gains 
could be more easily secured; so he was cast into a 
deep gloom. 

After which he began to ask further: 

“Are you going to transport us to-morrow to 
Omdurmén?” 

“Yes. Khartiim by command of the prophet is to be 
abandoned and very few reside there. They are razing 
the large buildings and conveying the bricks with the 
other booty to Omdurman. The prophet does not wish 
to live in a place polluted by unbelievers.”’ 

“T shall beat my forehead before him to-morrow, and 
he will command that I be supplied with provisions and 
fodder.” 

“Ha! If in truth you belong to the Dongolese, then 
perhaps you might be admitted to his presence. But 
know this, that his house is guarded day and night by a 
hundred men equipped with courbashes, and these do 
not spare blows to those who crave to see the Mahdi 
without permission. Otherwise the swarm would not 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 137 


give the holy man a moment of rest — Allah! I saw even 
Dongolese with bloody welts on their backs — ”’ 

Idris with each moment was possessed by greater 
disillusionment. 

“So the faithful do not see the prophet?” he asked. 

“The faithful see him daily at the place of prayer 
where, kneeling on the sheep’s hide, he raises his hands 
to God, or when he instructs the swarm and strengthens 
them in the true faith. But it is difficult to reach and 
speak with him, and whoever attains that happiness is 
envied by all, for upon him flows the divine grace which 
wipes away his former sins.” 

A deep night fell and with it came a piercing chill. 
In the ranks resounded the snorting of horses; the sudden 
change from the daily heat to cold was so strong that 
the hides of the steeds began to reek, and the detachment 
rode as if in a mist. Stas, behind Idris, leaned towards 
Nell and asked: 

“Do you feel cold?” 

“No,” answered the little girl, “but no one will protect 


33 


us now — 

And tears stifled her further words. 

This time he did not find any comfort for her, for he 
himself was convinced that there was no salvation for 
them. Now they rode over a region of wretchedness, 
famine, bestial cruelties, and blood. They were like 
two poor little leaves in a storm which bore death and 
annihilation not only to the heads of individuals, but 
to whole towns and entire tribes. What hand could 
snatch from it and save two small, defenseless children? 

The moon rolled high in the heaven and changed, as 
if into silvery feathers, the mimosa and acacia twigs. In 
th edense jungles resounded here and there the shrill 
and, at the same time, mockingly mirthful laugh of the 


138 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


hyenas, which in that gory region found far too many 
corpses. From time to time the detachment conducting the 
caravan encountered other patrols and exchanged, with 
them the agreed countersign. They came to the hills on the 
river banks and through a long pass reached the Nile. 
The people and the camels embarked upon wide and 
flat “dahabeahs,”’ and soon the heavy oars began with 
measured movements to break and ruffle the smooth 
river’s depth, strewn with starry diamonds. 

After the lapse of half an hour, on the southern side, 
on which dahabeahs floated upon the water, flashed 
lights which, as crafts approached them, changed into 
sheaves of red luster lying on the water. Nur el-Tadhil 
shook Idris’ arm, after which, stretching out his hand 
before him, he said: 

“Khartim!” 


XVI 


Torey stopped at the city’s limits in a house which 
formerly was the property of a rich Italian merchant, 
and after his murder during the assault upon the city, had 
fallen to Tadhil at the division of the spoils. The wives 
of the emir in quite a humane manner took charge of 
Nell who was barely alive after the rough treatment, and, 
though in all Khartfim could be felt a want of provisions, 
they found for the little “jan”! a few dried dates and 
a little rice with honey; after which they led her upstairs 
and put her to bed. Stas, who passed the night among 
the camels and horses in the courtyard, had to be con- 
tent with one biscuit; on the other hand, he did not 
lack water, for the fountain in the garden, by a strange 
chance, was not wrecked. Notwithstanding great weari- 
ness, he could not sleep; first on account of scorpions 
creeping incessantly over the saddle-cloth on which he 
lay, and again on account of a mortal dread that they 
would separate him from Nell, and that he would not 
be able to watch over her personally. This uneasiness was 
evidently shared by Saba, who scented about and from time 
to time howled, all of which enraged the soldiers. Stas 
quieted him as well as he could from fear that some in- 
jury might be done to him. Fortunately the giant mastiff 
aroused such admiration in the emir himself and in all 
the dervishes that no one lifted a hand against him. 
1 “Jan,”’ an expression of endearment, like “little lamb.” 


140 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


Idris also did not sleep. From the previous day he 
had felt unwell and, besides, after the conversation with 
Nur el-Tadhil he lost many of his delusions, and gazed 
at the future as though through a thick veil. He was 
glad that on the morrow they would be transported to 
Omdurman, which was separated from Kharttim only 
by the width of the White Nile; he had a hope that he 
would find Smain there, but what further? During the 
journey everything had presented itself to him somewhat 
more distinctly and far more splendidly. He sincerely 
believed in the prophet and his heart was drawn all the 
more to him because both came from the same tribe. 
But in addition he was, like almost every Arab, covetous 
and ambitious. He had dreamed that he would be loaded 
with gold and made an emir at least; he had dreamed 
of military expeditions against the “Turks,” of captured 
cities and spoils. Now, after what he had heard from 
el-Tadhil, he began to fear whether in the presence of far 
greater events, all his acts would not fade into insignifi- 
cance, just as a drop of rain disappears in the sea. “ Per- 
haps,” he thought with bitterness, “nobody will pay 
attention to what I have accomplished, and Smain will 
not even be pleased that I have brought those children 
to him;” and he was gnawed by this thought. The 
morrow was to dispel or confirm those fears; so he awaited 
it with impatience. 

The sun rose at six o’clock, and the bustle among the 
dervishes began. Nur el-Tadhil soon appeared and 
ordered them to prepare for the journey. He declared 
at the same time that they would go to the ferry on foot, 
beside his horse. To Stas’ great joy, Dinah led Nell from 
an upper floor; after which they proceeded on the ram- 
part, skirting the whole city, as far as the place at which 
the ferry boats stopped. Nur el-Tadhil rode ahead on 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 141 


horseback. Stas escorted Nell by the hand; after them 
came Idris, Gebhr, and Chamis, with Dinah and Saba, 
as well as thirty of the emir’s soldiers. The rest of the 
caravan remained in Khartiim. 

Stas, gazing around, could not understand how a city 
so strongly fortified, and lying in a fork formed by the 
White and Blue Niles, and therefore surrounded on three 
sides by water and accessible only from the south, could 
fall. Only later did he learn from a Christian slave that 
the river at that time had subsided and left a wide sandy 
strip, which facilitated access to the ramparts. The 
garrison, losing hope of relief and reduced by hunger, 
could not repel the assault of the infuriated savages, and 
the city was captured; after which a massacre of the 
inhabitants took place. Traces of the battle, though 
a month had already elapsed since the assault, could 
everywhere be seen along the ramparts; on the inside 
protruded the ruins of razed buildings against which the 
first impetus of the victors had been directed and on the 
outside the moat was full of corpses, which no one thought 
of burying. Before they reached the ferry Stas counted 
over four hundred. They did not, however, infect the air as 
the Sudanese sun dried them up like mummies; all had 
the hue of gray parchment, and were so much alike that 
the bodies of the Europeans, Egyptians, and negroes could 
not be distinguished from each other. Amid the corpses 
swarmed small gray lizards, which, at the approach of 
men, quickly hid under those human remains and often 
in the mouths or between the dried-up ribs. 

Stas walked with Nell in such a manner as to hide this 
horrible sight from her, and told her to look in the direction 
of the city. 

But from the side of the city many things transpired 
which struck the eyes and soul of the little girl with ter- 


142 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


ror. The sight of the “English” children, taken into 
captivity, and of Saba led with a leash by Chamis at- 
tracted a throng, which as the procession proceeded to 
the ferry increased with each moment. The throng after 
a certain time became so great that it was necessary to 
halt. From all sides came threatening outcries. Fright- 
fully tattooed faces leaned over Stas and over Nell. Some 
of the savages burst out into laughter at the sight of them 
and from joy slapped their hips with the palms of their 
hands; others cursed them; some roared like wild beasts, 
displaying their white teeth and rolling their eyes; finally 
they began to threaten and reach out towards them with 
knives. Nell, partly unconscious from fright, clung to 
Stas, while he shielded her as well as he knew how, in 
the conviction that their last hour was approaching. 
Fortunately this persistent molestation of the brutal 
swarm at last disgusted even Nur el-Tadhil. By his 
command between ten and twenty soldiers surrounded 
the children, while the others began, without mercy, to 
scourge the howling mob with courbashes. The con- 
course dispersed hurriedly, but on the other hand a mob 
began to gather behind the detachment and amid wild 
shrieks accompanied it to the boat. 

The children breathed more freely during the passage 
over the river. Stas comforted Nell with the statement 
that when the dervishes became accustomed to the sight 
of them they would cease their threats, and he assured 
her that Smain would protect and defend both of them, 
and particularly her, for if any evil should befall them he 
would not have any one to exchange for his children. 
This was the truth, but the littJe girl was so terror-stricken 
by the previous assaults that, having seized Stas’ hand, 
she did not want to let go of it for a moment, repeating 
continually, as if in a fever: “TI am afraid! I am afraid!”’ 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 143 


He with his whole soul wished to get as soon as possible 
into the hands of Smain, who knew them of old, and 
who in Port Said had displayed great friendship towards 
them, or at least had pretended to displayit. Atany rate 
he was not so wild as the other Dongolese of the Sudan, 
and captivity in his house would be more endurable. 

The only concern now was whether they would find 
him in Omdurman. Of this Idris spoke with Nur el- 
Tadhil, who at last recollected that a year before, while 
tarrying by the order of the caliph Abdullahi in Kordofan, 
far from Khartiim, he had heard of a certain Smain, 
who taught the dervishes how to fire from the cannons 
captured from the Egyptians, and afterwards became a 
slave hunter. Nur suggested to Idris the following 
method of finding him: 

“At noon, when you hear the sounds of the umbajas,! 
be with the children at the place of prayer, to which the 
Mahdi repairs daily to edify the faithful with an example 
of piety and to fortify them in the faith. There besides 
the sacred person of the Mahdi you will behold all the 
‘Nobles’ and also the three caliphs as well as the pashas 
and emirs; among the emirs you may find Smain.” 

“But what am I to do and where shall I stay until 
the time of the afternoon prayer?” 

“You will remain with my soldiers.” 

“ And will you, Nur el-Tadhil, leave us?” 

“T am going for orders to the caliph Abdullahi.” 

“Ts he the greatest of caliphs? I come from far and 
though the names of the commanders have reached my 
ears, nevertheless you may instruct me more definitely 
about them.” 

“ Abdullahi my commander is the Mahdi’s sword.” 

“May Allah make him the son of victory.” 


1 Umbajas — big trumpets of ivory tusk. 


144 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


For some time the boat floated in silence. There could 
be heard only the grating of the oars on the boat’s edges 
and once in a while a splash of water by a crocodile struck 
in the tail. Many of these ugly reptiles had swam down 
from the south to Khartfim, where they found an abun- 
dance of food, for the river teemed with corpses, not only 
of the people who were slaughtered after the capture of 
the city, but also of those who died of diseases which 
raged amidst the Mahdists and particularly among the 
slaves. The commands of the caliphs prohibited, indeed, 
“the contamination of the water,” but they were not 
heeded, and the bodies which the crocodiles did not de- 
vour floated with the water, face downward, to the Sixth 
Cataract and even as far as Beber. 

But Idris thought of something else, and after a while 
said: 

“This morning we did not get anything to eat. I do 
not know whether we can hold out from hunger until 
the hour of prayer, and who will feed us later?”’ 

“You are not a slave,” replied Tadhil, “and can go 
to the market-place where merchants display their sup- 
plies. There you can obtain dried meat and sometimes 
dochnu (millet), but for a high price; as I told you, 
famine reigns in Omdurman.”’ 

“But in the meantime wicked people will seize and 
kill those children.” 

“The soldiers will protect them, and if you give money 
to any one of them, he will willingly go for provisions.” 

This advice did not please Idris who had a greater 
desire to take money than to give it to any one, but before 
he was able to make reply the boat touched the bank. 

To the children Omdurmdn appeared different from 
Khartiim. In the latter place there were houses of several 
stories built of brick and stone; there was a “mudirya,” 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 145 


that is, a Governor’s palace in which the heroic Gordon 
had perished; there were a church, a hospital, missionary 
buildings, an arsenal, great barracks for the troops and 
a large number of greater and smaller gardens with mag- 
nificent tropical plants. Omdurmén, on the other hand, 
seemed rather a great encampment of savages. The 
fort which stood on the northern side of the settlement 
had been razed by command of Gordon. As a whole, as 
far as the eye could reach the city consisted of circular 
conical huts of dochnu straw. Narrow, thorny little 
fences separated these huts from each other and from 
the streets. Here and there could be seen tents, evidently 
captured from the Egyptians. Elsewhere a few palm 
mats under a piece of dirty linen stretched upon bamboo 
constituted the entire residence. The population sought 
shelter under the roofs during rain or exceptional heat; 
for the rest they passed their time, built fires, cooked 
food, lived, and died out-of-doors. So the streets were so 
crowded that in places the detachment with difficulty 
forced its way through the multitude. Formerly Omdur- 
man was a wretched village; at present, counting the 
slaves, over two hundred thousand people were huddled 
in it. Even the Mahdi and his caliphs were perturbed 
by this vast concourse, which was threatened with famine 
and disease. They continually despatched to the north 
new expeditions to subjugate localities and cities, loyal yet 
to the Egyptian Government. 

At the sight of the white children here also resounded 
unfriendly cries, but at least the rabble did not threaten 
them with death. It may be that they did not dare to, 
being so close to the prophet’s side, and perhaps because 
they were more accustomed to the sight of prisoners who 
were all transported to Omdurman immediately after 
the capture of Khartiim. Stas and Nell, however, saw 


146 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


hell on earth. They saw Europeans and Egyptians 
lashed with courbashes until they bled; hungry, thirsty, 
bending under burdens which they were commanded to 
carry or under buckets of water. They saw European 
women and children, who were reared in affluence, at 
present begging for a handful of durra or a shred of meat; 
covered with rags, emaciated, resembling specters, with 
faces swarthy from want, on which dismay and despair 
had settled, and with a bewildered stare. They saw how 
the savages burst into laughter at the sight of these un- 
fortunates; how they pushed and beat them. On all the 
streets and alleyways there were not lacking sights from 
which the eyes turned away with horror and aversion. 
In Omdurmén, dysentery and typhoid fever, and, above 
all, small-pox raged in a virulent form. The sick, covered 
with sores, lay at the entrances of the hovels, infecting 
the air. The prisoners carried, wrapped in linen, the bodies 
of the newly dead to bury them in the sand beyond the 
city, where the real charge of the funeral was assumed 
by hyenas. Above the city hovered flocks of vultures 
from whose wings fell melancholy shadows upon the 
illuminated sand. Stas, witnessing all this, thought that 
the best for him and Nell would be to die as soon as 
possible. 

Nevertheless, in this sea of human wretchedness and 
malice there bloomed at times compassion, as a pale 
flower blooms in a putrid marsh. In Omdurmén there 
were a few Greeks and Copts whom the Mahdi had spared 
because he needed them. These not only walked about 
freely, but engaged in trade and various affairs, and some, 
especially those who pretended to change their faith, 
were even officers of the Mahdi, and this gave them con- 
siderable importance among the wild dervishes. One of 
these Greeks stopped the detachment and began to ques- 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 147 


tion the children as to how they happened to be there. 
Learning with amazement that they had just arrived, 
and that they had been kidnapped from far-away Fayfim, 
he promised to speak about them to the Mahdi and to in- 
quire about them in the future. In the meantime he 
nodded his head compassionately at Nell and gave to 
each a few handfuls of dried wild figs and a silver dollar 
with an image of Maria Theresa. After which he ad- 
monished the soldiers not to dare to do any harm to the 
little girl, and he left, repeating in English: “Poor little 
bird!” 


XVII 


THROUGH tortuous little streets they finally arrived at 
the market-place which was situated in the center of the 
city. On the way they saw many men with a hand or 
foot cut off. They were thieves or transgressors who had 
concealed booty. The punishment meted by the caliphs 
for disobedience or violation of the laws promulgated by 
the prophet was horrible, and even for a trivial offense, 
such as smoking tobacco, the delinquent was whipped 
with courbashes until he bled or became unconscious. 
But the caliphs themselves observed these commands 
only seemingly; at home they indulged in everything, so 
that the penalties fell upon the poor, who at one blow 
were despoiled of all their goods. Afterwards there re- 
mained for them nothing to do but beg; and as in Om- 
durman there was a scarcity of provisions they died of 
starvation. 

A large number of beggars also swarmed around the 
provision stalls. The first object, however, which at- 
tracted the attention of the children was a human head 
fastened on a high bamboo set up in the center of the 
market-place. The face of this head was dried up and 
almost black, while the hair on the skull and the chin 
was as white as milk. One of the soldiers explained to 
Idris that that was Gordon’s head. Stas, when he heard 
this, was seized by fathomless sorrow, indignation, and 
a burning desire for revenge; at the same time terror 


Wie 4 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 149 


froze the blood in his veins. Thus had perished that hero, 
that knight without fear and without reproach; a man, 
just and kind, who was loved even in the Sudan. And 
the English people had not come in time to his aid, and 
later retired, leaving his remains without a Christian 
burial, to be thus dishonored! Stas at that moment lost 
his faith in the English people. Heretofore he naively 
believed that England, for an injury to one of her citizens, 
was always ready to declare war against the whole world. 
At the bottom of his soul there had lain a hope that in 
behalf of Rawlinson’s daughter, after the unsuccessful 
pursuit, formidable English hosts would be set in motion 
even as far as Khartim and farther. Now he became 
convinced that Khartfim and that whole region was in 
the hands of the Mahdi, and that the Egyptian Govern- 
ment and England were thinking rather of preserving 
Egypt from further conquests than of delivering the 
European prisoners from captivity. 

He understood that he and Nell had fallen into an 
abyss from which there was no escape, and these thoughts, 
linked with the horrors which he witnessed on the streets 
of Omdurmén, disheartened him completely. His cus- 
tomary energy gave way to total passive submission to 
fate and a dread of the future. In the meantime he 
began aimlessly to gaze about the market-place and at 
the stalls at which Idris was bargaining for provisions. 
The hucksters, mainly Sudanese women and negresses, 
sold jubhas here, that is, white linen gowns, pieced to- 
gether with many colored patches, acacia gum, hollow 
gourds, glass beads, sulphur and all kinds of mats. There 
were a few stalls with provisions and around all of them 
the throng pressed. The Mahdists bought at high 
prices principally dried strips of meat of domestic animals; 
likewise of buffaloes, antelopes and giraffes. Dates, figs, 


150 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


manioc, and durra were totally lacking. They sold here 
and there water and honey of wild bees, and grains of 
dochnu soaked in a decoction of tamarind fruit. Idris 
fell into despair, for it appeared that in view of the prevail- 
ing market-prices he would soon exhaust all the money 
he had received from Fatma Smain for living expenses 
and afterwards would, in all probability, have to beg. 
His only hope now was in Smain, and strangely enough 
Stas also relied solely upon Smain’s assistance. 

After a lapse of an hour Nur el-Tadhil returned from 
the caliph Abdullahi. Evidently he had met with some 
kind of disagreeable mishap there, for he returned in a 
bad humor. So when Idris asked him if he had learned 
anything about Smain, he replied testily: 

“Fool, do you think that the caliph and I have noth- 
ing better to do than to seek Smain for you?” 

“Well, what are you going to do with me?” 

“Do what you please. I gave you a night’s lodging 
in my house and a few words of good advice, and now I 
do not want to know anything more about you.” 

“That is well, but where shall I find shelter? ” 

“Tt is all the same to me.” 

Saying this he took the soldiers and went away. With 
great difficulty Idris prevailed upon him to send to the 
market-place the camels and the rest of the caravan, in- 
cluding those Arabs who had joined it between Assuan 
and WAdi Halfa. These people did not come until the 
afternoon, and it appeared that none of them knew 
what they were going to do. The two Bedouins be- 
gan to quarrel with Idris and Gebhr, claiming that they 
had promised them an entirely different reception and 
that they had cheated them. After a long dispute and 
much deliberation they finally decided to erect at the 
outskirts of the city huts of dochnu boughs and reeds as 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 151 


shelter during the night, and for the rest to depend upon 
the will of providence, and wait. 

After the erection of the huts, which employment does 
not require much time from Sudanese and negroes, all, 
excepting Chamis, who was to prepare the supper, re- 
paired to the place of public prayer. It was easy for them 
to find it, as the swarm of all Omdurman was bound 
thither. The place was spacious, encircled partly by a 
thorny fence and partly by a clay enclosure which was 
being built. In the center stood a wooden platform. 
The prophet ascended it whenever he desired to instruct 
the people. In front of the platform were spread upon 
the ground sheep hides for the Mahdi, the caliphs, and 
eminent sheiks. Planted at the sides were the flags of 
emirs, which fluttered in the air, displaying all colors 
and looking like great flowers. The four sides were sur- 
rounded by the compact ranks of dervishes. Around 
could be seen a bold, numberless forest of spears, with 
which almost all the warriors were armed. 

It was real good fortune for Idris and Gebhr, and 
for the other members of the caravan, that they were 
taken for a retinue of one of the emirs. For that reason 
they could press forward to the first rows of the assem- 
bled throng. The arrival of the Mahdi was announced 
by the beautiful and solemn notes of umbajas, but when 
he appeared there resounded the shrill notes of fifes, the 
beating of drums, the rattle of stones shaken in empty 
gourds, and whistling on elephants’ teeth, all of which com- 
bined created an infernal din. The swarm was swept 
by an indescribable fervor. Some threw themselves on 
their knees; others shouted with all their strength: 

“Oh! Messenger of God!” “Oh! Victorious!” “Oh! 
Merciful!” “Oh! Gracious!” This continued until the 
Mahdi entered the pulpit. Then a dead stillness fell while 


152° IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


he raised his hands, placed his big fingers to his ears, and 
for some time prayed. 

The children did not stand far away, and could see 
him well. He was a middle-aged man, prodigiously obese 
as though bloated, and almost black. Stas, who had an 
unusually keen sight, perceived that his face was tattooed. 
In one ear he wore a big ivory ring. He was dressed in a 
white jubha and had a white cap on his head. His feet 
were bare, as on mounting the platform he shook off 
red half-boots and left them on the sheep’s hide on which 
he was afterwards to pray. There was not the least 
luxury in his clothing. Only at times the wind carried 
a strong sandal! scent which the faithful present inhaled 
eagerly through their nostrils; at the same time they 
rolled their eyes from joy. On the whole Stas had pic- 
tured differently this terrible prophet, plunderer, and 
murderer of so many thousand people, and looking now 
at the fat face with its mild look, with eyes suffused with 
tears, and with a smile, as though grown to those lips, he 
could not overcome his astonishment. He thought that 
such a man ought to bear on his shoulders the head of 
a hyena or a crocodile, and instead he saw before him 
a chubby-faced gourd, resembling drawings of a full 
moon. 

But the prophet began his instruction. His deep and 
resonant voice could be heard perfectly all over the 
place, so that his words reached the ears of all the faith- 
ful. He first spoke of the punishments which God meted 
out to those who disobey the commands of the Mahdi, 
and hide booty, get intoxicated upon merissa, spare the 
enemy in battles, and smoke tobacco. On account of 
these crimes Allah sends upon the sinners famine and 


1 From sandal wood, from which in the Kast a fragrant oil 
is derived. 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 153 


that disease which changes the face into a honey-comb 
(small-pox). Temporal life is like a leaky leather bottle. 
Riches and pleasure are absorbed in the sand which 
buries the dead. Only faith is like a cow which gives 
sweet milk. But paradise will open only for the victo- 
rious. Whoever vanquishes the enemy wins for himself 
salvation. Whoever dies for the faith will rise from the 
dead for eternity. Happy, a hundredfold more happy 
are those who already have fallen. 

“We want to die for the faith!”” answered the swarm in 
one tumultuous shout. 

And for a while an infernal uproar again prevailed. 
The umbajas and drums sounded. The warriors struck 
sword against sword, spear against spear. The martial 
ardor spread like a flame. Some cried: “The faith is 
victorious!”” Others: “To paradise through death!” 
Stas now understood why the Egyptian army could not 
cope with this wild host. 

When the hubbub had somewhat subsided, the prophet 
resumed his address. He told them of his visions and of 
the mission which he had received from God. Allah 
commanded him to purify the faith and spread it over 
the entire world. Whoever does not acknowledge him 
as the Mahdi, the Redeemer, is condemned to damna- 
tion. The end of the world is already near, but before 
that time it is the duty of the faithful to conquer Egypt, 
Mecca, and all those regions beyond the seas where the 
gentiles dwell. Such is the divine will which nothing can 
change. A great deal of blood will flow yet; many war- 
riors will not return to their wives and children under 
their tents, but the happiness of those who fall no human 
tongue can describe. 

After which he stretched out his arms towards the 
assembled throng and concluded thus: 


154 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


“Therefore I, the Redeemer and servant of God, bless 
this holy war and you warriors. I bless your toils, wounds, 
death; I bless victory, and weep over you like a father 
who has conceived an affection for you.” 

And he burst into a flood of tears. When he descended 
from the pulpit a roar and a clamor resounded. Weep- 
ing became general. Below, the two caliphs Abdullahi 
and Ali Uled Helu took the prophet under the arms and 
escorted him to the sheep hide on which he knelt. Dur- 
ing this brief moment Idris asked Stas feverishly whether 
Smain was not among the emirs. 

“No!” replied the boy, who vainly sought the familiar 
face with his eyes. “I do not see him anywhere. Perhaps 
he fell at the capture of Khartiim.” 

The prayers lasted long. During these the Mahdi 
threw his arms and legs about like a buffoon or raised his 
eyes in rapture, repeating “Lo! It is he!” “Lo! It is 
he!”’ and the sun began to decline towards the west, when 
he rose and left for his home. The children now could 
be convinced with what reverence the dervishes sur- 
rounded their prophet, for crowds eagerly followed him 
and scratched up the places which his feet touched. They 
even quarreled and came to blows for they believed 
that such earth protected the healthy and healed the 
sick. 

The place of prayer was vacated gradually. Idris 
himself did not know what to do and was about to return 
with the children and his whole party to the huts and 
to Chamis for the night, when unexpectedly there stood 
before them that same Greek who in the morning had 
given Stas and Nell each a dollar and a handful of wild 
figs. 

“T spoke with the Mahdi about you;” he said in Arabian, 
“and the prophet desires to see you.” 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 155 


“Thanks to Allah and to you, sir,’ exclaimed Idris. 
“Shall we find Smain at the prophet’s side.” 

“Smain is in Fashoda,” answered the Greek. 

After which he addressed Stas in the English language. 

“It may be that the prophet will take you under his 
protection as I endeavored to persuade him to do. I told 
him that the fame of his mercy would then spread among 
all the white nations. Here terrible things are taking 
place and without his protection you will perish from 
starvation and want of comforts, from sickness or at the 
hands of madmen. But you must reconcile him and 
that depends upon you.” 

“What am I to do?” Stas asked. 

“In the first place, when you appear before him throw 
yourself upon your knees, and if he should tender his 
hand, kiss it with reverence and beseech him to take you 
two under his wings.” 

Here the Greek broke off and asked: 

“Do any of these men understand English?” 

“No. Idris and Gebhr understand only a few simple 
words and the others not even that.” 

“That is well. So listen further, for it is necessary to 
anticipate everything. Now the Mahdi will in all proba- 
bility ask you whether you are ready to accept his faith. 
Answer at once that you are and that at the sight of him, 
from the first glance of the eye an unknown light of grace 
flowed upon you. Remember, ‘an unknown light of grace.’ 
That will flatter him and he will enroll you among his 
muzalems, that is, among his personal servants. You 
will then enjoy plenty and all the comforts which will 
shield you from sickness. If you should act otherwise 
you would endanger yourself, that poor little creature, and 
even me, who wishes your good. Do you understand?” 

Stas set his teeth and did not reply, but his face was 


156 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


icy and his eyes flashed up sullenly. Seeing which the 
Greek continued thus: 

“T know, my boy, that this is a disagreeable matter, 
but it cannot be helped. All of those who were saved 
after the massacre in Khartiim accepted the Mahdi’s 
doctrines. Only a few Catholic missionaries and nuns 
did not assent to it, but that is a different matter. The 
Koran prohibits the slaughter of priests, so though their 
fate is horrible, they are not at least threatened with 
death. For the secular people, however, there was no 
other salvation. I repeat, they all accepted Mohammed- 
ism; the Germans, Italians, Englishmen, Copts, Greeks — 
I myself.” 

And here, though Stas had assured him that no one 
in that crowd understood English, he nevertheless lowered 
his voice. 

“Besides, I need not tell you that this is no denial of 
faith, no treason, no apostasy. In his soul every one 
remained what he was and God saw it. Before superior 
force it is necessary to bend, though seemingly. It is 
the duty of man to preserve life and it would be madness, 
and even a sin, to jeopardize it —for what? For appear- 
ances, for a few words, which at the same time you may 
disavow in your soul? And remember that you hold in 
your hands not only your life but the life of your little 
companion which it is not permissible for you to dispose 
of. In truth, I can guarantee to you if ever God saves 
you from these hands then you will not have anything 
to reproach yourself with, nor will any one find fault with 
you, as this is the case with all of us.” 

The Greek, speaking in this manner, perhaps deceived his 
own conscience, but Stas’ silence deceived him also for 
in the end he mistook it for fear. He determined there- 
fore to give the boy courage. 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 157 


“These are the houses of the Mahdi,” he said. “He 
prefers to live in the wooden sheds of Omdurman rather 
than in Khartiim, though there he could occupy Gordon’s 
palace. Well then, bravely! Don’t lose your head! To 
the question reply firmly. They prize courage here. Also 
do not imagine that the Mahdi will at once roar at you 
like a lion! No! He always smiles, even when contem- 
plating nothing good.” 

And saying this he began to shout at the crowd stand- 
ing in front of the house to make way for the prophet’s 
“ guests.” 


XVIII 


WHEN they entered the room, the Mahdi lay on a soft 
cot, surrounded by his wives, two of whom fanned him 
with great ostrich feathers and the other two lightly 
scratched the soles of his feet. Besides his wives, there 
were present only the caliph Abdullahi and the sheref 
caliph, as the third, Ali Uled Helu, was despatching at that 
time troops to the north, particularly to Beber and Abu 
Hamed, which already had been captured by the der- 
vishes. At sight of the arrivals the prophet dismissed 
his wives and sat up on the cot. Idris, Gebhr, and the 
two Bedouins fell on their faces and afterwards knelt 
with hands crossed on their breasts. The Greek beckoned 
to Stas to do the same, but the boy, pretending not to 
see the gesture, only bowed and remained standing erect. 
His face was pale, but his eyes shone strongly and from 
his whole posture and head, haughtily upraised, from 
his tightly compressed lips it could easily be seen that 
something had taken an ascendancy over him, that un- 
certainty and fear had passed away, that he had adopted 
an inflexible resolution from which he would not recede 
for anything. The Greek evidently understood this, 
as great uneasiness was reflected on his features. The 
Mahdi observed both children with a fleeting glance, 
brightened his fat face with his customary smile, after 
which he first addressed Idris and Gebhr: 


“You came from the distant north,” he said. 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 159 


Idris struck the ground with his forehead. 

“Yes, oh Mahdi! We belong to the tribe of Dongola; 
therefore we abandoned our homes in Faytim in order to 
kneel at your blessed feet.” 

“T beheld you in the desert. That was a terrible journey 
but I sent an angel to guard and shield you from death 
at the hands of the infidels. You did not see this, but 
he watched over you.” 

“Thanks to thee, Redeemer.”’ 

“And you brought those children to Smain to exchange 
them for his own, that the Turks imprisoned together 
with Fatma in Port Said.”’ 

“Thee we desired to serve.” 

“Whoever serves me—serves his own salvation; 
therefore you have opened for yourselves the path to 
paradise. Fatma is my relative. But verily I say unto 
you that when we subjugate the whole of Egypt, then 
my relative and her posterity will anyway regain liberty.” 

“And therefore do with these children whatever thou 
desirest — oh blessed one.” 

The Mahdi closed his eyelids, after which he opened 
them, smiling kindly, and nodded at Stas. 

“ Approach, boy.” 

Stas advanced a few paces with an energetic, as if sol- 
dierly, stride; he bowed a second time after which he 
straightened as a chord and, looking straight into the 
Mahdi’s eyes, waited. 

“Are you delighted that you came to me?” the Mahdi 
asked. 

“No, prophet. We were abducted in spite of our wills 
from our parents.” 

This plain answer created a certain sensation upon 
the ruler accustomed to flattery, and upon those present. 


Caliph Abdullahi frowned, the Greek gnawed his mus- 


160 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


tache, and began to wring his hands. The Mahdi, however, 
did not cease to smile. 

“But,” he said, “you are at the fountain of truth. 
Do you want to drink at that fountain?” 

A moment of silence followed; so the Mahdi, thinking 
the boy did not understand the question, repeated it more 
plainly. 

“Do you desire to accept my doctrines?” 

To this Stas imperceptibly made a sign of the holy cross 
with his hand which he held at his breast, as though he 
was about to leap from a sinking ship into a watery chaos. 

“Prophet,” he said, “your doctrines I do not know; 
therefore if I accepted them, I would do it out of fear 
like a coward and a base man. Are you anxious that 
your faith should be professed by cowards and base 
people?” 

And speaking thus he looked steadfastly in the eyes of 
the Mahdi. It became so quiet that only the buzz of 
flies could be heard. But at the same time something 
extraordinary had happened. The Mahdi became con- 
fused, and for the nonce did not know what reply to make. 
The smile vanished from his face, on which was reflected 
perplexity and displeasure. He stretched out his hand, 
took hold of the gourd, filled it with water and honey, 
and began to drink, but obviously only to gain time and 
to conceal his confusion. 

And the brave boy, a worthy descendant of the defenders 
of Christianity, of the true blood of the victors at Khoczim 
and Vienna, stood with upraised head, awaiting his doom. 
On his emaciated cheeks, tanned by the desert winds, 
bloomed bright blushes, his eyes glittered, and his body 
quivered with the thrill of ardor. “ All others,” he solilo- 
quized, “accepted his doctrines, but I have denied neither 
my faith nor my soul.” And fear before what might 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 161 


and was to follow at that moment was subdued in his 
heart, and joy and pride overflowed it. 

In the meantime the Mahdi replaced the gourd and 
asked : 

“So, you reject my doctrines?” 

“T am a Christian like my father.” 

“Whoever closes his eyes to the voice of God,’ said 
the Mahdi slowly in a changed voice, “is only fuel for 
the flames.” 

At this the caliph Abdullahi, notorious for his ferocity 
and cruelty, displayed his white teeth like a savage animal 
and spoke out: 

“The speech of this boy is insolent; therefore punish 
him, lord, or permit me to punish him.” 

“Tt has happened!” Stas thought. 

But the Mahdi always desired that the fame of his 
mercy should spread not only among the dervishes but 
over the whole world; therefore he thought that a too 
severe sentence, particularly upon a small boy, might 
injure that fame. 

For a while he fingered the rosary beads and meditated, 
and afterwards said: 

“No. These children were abducted for Smain; so, 
though I do not want to enter into any negotiations with 
the infidels, it is necessary to send them to Smain. Such 
is my will.” 

“Tt shall be obeyed,” answered the caliph. 

But the Mahdi pointed to Idris, Gebhr, and the 
Bedouins and said: 

“Reward these men for me, oh Abdullahi, for they 
made a long and dangerous journey to serve God and 
me.” 

After which he nodded in sign that the audience was 
ended and at the same time ordered the Greek to leave 


162 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


also. The latter, when they found themselves in the 
darkness on the place of prayer, seized Stas’ arm and 
began to shake it with anger and despair. 

“ Accursed! You have sealed the doom of that innocent 
child,” he said, pointing at Nell. “You have ruined 
yourself and perhaps me.” 

“T could not do otherwise,” answered Stas. 

“You could not? Know that you are condemned to 
a journey a hundredfold worse than the first. And that 
is death,—do you understand? In Fashoda the fever 
will kill you in the course of a week. The Mahdi knew 
why he sent you to Smain.” 

“In Omdurmén we also would perish.” 

“That is not true! You would not have perished in 
the house of the Mahdi, in plenty and comfort. And he 
was ready to take you under his wings. I know that he 
was. You also repaid me nicely for interceding for you. 
But do what you wish, Abdullahi will despatch the camel- 
post to Fashoda in about a week and during that time 
do whatever you please! You will not see me any more!” 

Saying this he went away, but after a while returned. 
He, like all Greeks, was loquacious, and it was necessary 
for him to tell everything he had to say. He wanted to 
pour upon Stas’ head all the bile which had accumulated 
within him. He was not cruel and did not possess a bad 
heart; he desired, however, that the boy should under- 
stand more thoroughly the awful responsibility which 
he had assumed in not heeding his advice and warnings. 

“Who would have prevented you from remaining a 
Christian in your soul?” he said. “Do you think that 
I am not one? But I am not a fool. You on the other 
hand preferred to make a parade of your false heroism. 
Heretofore I have rendered great services to the white 
prisoners, but now I shall not be able to aid them for the 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 163 


Mahdi has become incensed at me. All will perish. And 
your little companion in misfortune also: you have killed 
her! In Fashoda even adult Europeans die of the fever 
like flies, and what of such a child? And if they order 
you to go on foot beside the horses and camels, she will 
fall the first day. You did all this. Enjoy yourself now 
— you Christian!” 

And he left them while they turned from the place of 
prayer towards the huts. They walked long, as the city 
was spread over an immense space. Nell, worn out by 
fatigue, hunger, fright, and the horrible impressions of 
the whole day, began to lag. Idris and Gebhr urged her 
to walk faster. But after a time her limbs became en- 
tirely numb. Then Stas, without reflection, took her in 
his arms and carried her. On the way he wanted to speak 
to her; he wanted to justify himself, but ideas were 
torpid, as if they were dead in his mind; so he only re- 
peated in a circle, “Nell! Nell! Nell!” and he clasped 
her to his bosom, not being able to say anything more. 
After a few score paces Nell fell asleep in his arms from 
exhaustion; so he walked in silence amid the quiet of the 
slumbering little streets, interrupted only by the con- 
versation of Idris and Gebhr, whose hearts overflowed 
with joy. This was fortunate for Stas, as otherwise 
they would have punished him for his insolent reply 
to the Mahdi. They were, however, so occupied with 
what they had seen that they could not think of any- 
thing else. 

“T felt sick,” said Idris, “but the sight of the prophet 
healed me.” 

“He is like a palm in the desert, and like cool water on 
a scorching day, and his words are like ripe dates,” an- 
swered Gebhr. 

“Nur el-Tadhil lied when he said that he would not 


164 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


permit us to be admitted to his presence. He admitted 
us, blessed us, and ordered Abdullahi to lavish gifts 
upon us.” 

“Who will munificently enrich us, for the wish of the 
Mahdi is sacred.” 

“Bismillah! May it be as you say!” spoke out one 
of the Bedouins. 

And Gebhr began to dream of whole herds of camels, 
horned cattle, and bags full of piastres. 

From these dreams he was awakened by Idris who, 
pointing at Stas carrying the sleeping girl, asked: 

“What shall we do with that hornet and that fly?” 

“Ha! Smain ought to reward us for them, separately.” 

“Since the prophet says that he will not permit any 
negotiations with the infidels, Smain will have no interest 
in them.” 

“Tn such case I regret that they did not get into the 
hands of the caliph, who would have taught that whelp 
what it is to bark against the truth and the elect of the 
Lord.” 

“The Mahdi is merciful,”’ answered Idris. 

After which he pondered for a while and said: 

“Nevertheless, Smain having both in his hands will be 
certain that neither the Turks nor the English people 
will kill his children and Fatma.” 

“So he may reward us?” 

“Yes. Let Abdullahi’s post take them to Fashoda. 
A weight will fall off our heads, and when Smain returns 
here we will demand recompense from him.” 

“You say then that we will remain in Omdurman?” 

“Allah! Have you not had enough in the journey 
from Fayfim to Khartim? The time for rest has come.” 

The huts were now not far off. Stas, however, slack- 
ened his pace for his strength began to wane. Nell, 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 165 


though light, seemed heavier and heavier. The Sudanese, 
who were anxious to go to sleep, shouted at him to hurry 
and afterwards drove him on, striking him on the head 
with their fists. Gebhr even pricked him painfully in 
the shoulder with a knife. The boy endured all this in 
silence, protecting above all his little sister, and not until 
one of the Bedouins shoved him so that he almost fell, 
did he say to them through his set teeth: 

“We are to arrive at Fashoda alive.” 

And these words restrained the Arabs, for they feared 
to violate the commands of the Mahdi. A yet more ef- 
fective restraint, however, was the fact that Idris suddenly 
became so dizzy that he had to lean on Gebhr’s arm. 
After an interval the dizziness passed away, but the 
Sudanese became frightened and said: 

“Allah! Something ails me. Has not some sickness 
taken hold of me?” 

“You have seen the Mahdi, so you will not fall sick,” 
answered Gebhr. 

They finally reached the huts. Stas, hurrying with the 
remnants of his strength, delivered sleeping Nell to the 
hands of old Dinah, who, though unwell also, neverthe- 
less made a comfortable bed for her little lady. The 
Sudanese and the Bedouins, swallowing a few strips of 
raw meat, flung themselves, like logs, on the saddle-cloth. 
Stas was not given anything to eat, but old Dinah 
shoved into his hand a fistful of soaked durra, a certain 
amount of which she had stolen from the camels. But he 
was not in the mood for eating or sleeping, for the load 
which weighed on his shoulders was in truth too heavy. 
He felt that in rejecting the favor of the Mahdi, for which 
it was necessary to pay with denial of faith and soul, he 
had acted as he should have done; he felt that his father 
would have been proud and happy at his conduct, but 


166 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


at the same time he thought that he had caused the de- 
struction of Nell, his companion in misfortune, his little 
beloved sister, for whom he would willingly have sacri- 
ficed his last drop of blood. 

~ So when all had fallen asleep he burst into a flood of 
tears, and, lying on a piece of saddle-cloth, he wept long, 
like the child which, after all, he still was. 


XIX 


THE visit to the Mahdi and the interview with him evi- 
dently did not heal Idris, as during the night he grew 
worse and in the morning became unconscious. Chamis, 
Gebhr, and the two Bedouins were summoned to the 
caliph who detained them some hours and praised their 
courage. But they returned in the worst humor and with 
rage in their souls for they had expected the Lord knows 
what rewards, and in the meantimé Abdullahi gave each 
one an Egyptian pound ! and a horse. 

The Bedouins began a quarrel with Gebhr which 
almost resulted in a fight; in the end they announced that 
they would ride together with the camel-post to Fashoda 
to demand payment from Smain. They were joined by . 
Chamis who expected that the patronage of Smain would 
be more beneficial to him than a sojourn in Omdurmén. 

For the children a week of hunger and misery began, 
for Gebhr did not think of feeding them. Fortunately 
Stas had the two dollars with the effigy of Maria Theresa, 
which he got from the Greek; so he went to the city to 
buy dates and rice. The Sudanese did not oppose this 
trip as they knew that he could not escape from Omdur- 
man and that under no circumstances would he desert 
the little “bint.”” This experience did not pass without 
some adventures, however, for the sight of a boy in Euro- 
pean dress buying provisions at the market-place, again 

1 About five dollars. — Translator’s Note. 


168 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


attracted a crowd of semi-savage dervishes, who received 
him with laughter and yells. Fortunately many knew 
that he had been at the Mahdi’s the previous day, and 
they restrained those who wanted to assault him. Only 
children threw sand and stones at him, but he paid no 
attention to them. 

At the market-place the prices were too high. Stas 
could not obtain any dates at all and a considerable part 
of the rice was taken away from him by Gebhr for “his 
sick brother.”’ The boy resisted with all his strength, 
in consequence of which a scuffle and fight ensued, in 
which the really weaker one came out with numerous 
contusions and bruises. In addition the cruelty of Chamis 
became manifest. The latter evinced an attachment for 
Saba and fed him with raw meat; on the other hand, at 
the distress of the children, whom he knew of old and who 
had always been kind to him, he looked with the utmost 
indifference, and when Stas addressed him with a request 
that he should at least give Nell a morsel of food, he 
replied, laughing: 

“Go and beg.”’ 

And it finally came to the pass that Stas during the 
following days, desiring to save Nell from death by 
starvation, begged. Nor was he always unsuccessful. 
At times some former soldier or officer of the Egyptian 
Khedive gave him a few piastres or a few dried figs, and 
promised to aid him on the following day. Once he hap- 
pened to meet a missionary and a sister of charity, who, 
hearing his story, bemoaned the fate of both children, and 
though they themselves were wasted with hunger, shared 
with him everything which they had. They also prom- 
ised to visit them in the huts and did actually come the 
next day in the hope that they might succeed in taking 
the children with them until the time of the departure of 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 169 


the post. But Gebhr with Chamis drove them away with 
courbashes. On the following day Stas met them again 


and received from them a little measure of rice together 
with two quinine powders, which the missionary in- 
structed him to save most carefully in the expectation 
that in Fashoda fever inevitably awaited both. 

“You will ride now,” he said, “alongside of the dense 
floating masses in the White Nile or the so-called ‘ sudds.’ 
The river, not being able to flow freely across the barriers 
composed of vegetation and weeds which the current of the 
water carries and deposits in the more shallow places, 
forms there extensive and infectious swamps, amid which 
the fever does not spare even the negroes. Beware par- 
ticularly of sleeping on the bare ground without a fire.” 

“We already wish to die,” answered Stas, almost with 
a moan. 

At this the missionary raised his haggard face and for 
a while prayed; after which he made the sign of the cross 
over the boy and said: 

“Trust in God. You did not deny Him; so His mercy 
and care will be over you.” 

Stas tried not only to beg, but to work. A certain day, 
seeing a crowd of men laboring at the place of prayer, he 
joined them, and began to carry clay for the palisade 
with which the place was to be surrounded. They jeered 
at and jostled him, but at evening the old sheik, who 
superintended the work, gave him twelve dates. Stas 
was immensely overjoyed at this compensation, for 
dates with rice formed the only wholesome nourishment 
for Nell and became more and more difficult to obtain in 
Omdurmén. 

So he brought them with pride to his little sister, to 
whom he gave everything which he could secure; he 
sustained himself for a week almost exclusively upon 


170 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


durra taken from the camels. Nell was greatly delighted 
at the sight of her favorite fruit but wanted him to share 
it with her. So, tiptoeing, she placed her hands on his 
shoulders, and turning up her head, began to gaze into 
his eyes and plead: 

“Stas! Eat a half, eat — ” 

To this he replied: 

“T have already eaten. I have eaten. I have eaten 
my fill.” 

And he smiled, but immediately began to bite his lips 
in order not to weep, as he really was hungry. He prom- 
ised himself that the following day he would go again 
and earn some more; but it happened otherwise. In the 
morning a muzalem from Abdullahi came with the an- 
nouncement that the camel-post was to leave at night 
for Fashoda, and with the caliph’s command that Idris, 
Gebhr, Chamis, and the two Bedouins should prepare to 
go with the children. This command amazed and aroused 
the indignation of Gebhr; so he declared that he would 
not go as his brother was sick and there was no one to 
attend to him, and even if he were well, both had decided 
to remain in Omdurman. 

But the muzalem replied: 

“The Mahdi has only one will, and Abdullahi, his 
caliph and my master, never alters commands. Your 
brother can be attended by a slave, while you will depart 
for Fashoda.”’ 

“Then I shall go and inform him that I will not depart.” 

“To the caliph are admitted only those whom he him- 
self desires to see. And if you without permission, and 
through violence, should force yourself into his presence, 
I will lead you to the gallows.” 

“Allah akbar! Then tell me plainly that I am a slave!” 

“Be silent and obey orders!”” answered the muzalem. 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS A | 


The Sudanese had seen in Omdurman gallows breaking 
under the weight of hanging men. By order of the fero- 
cious Abdullahi these gallows were daily decorated with 
new bodies. Gebhr became terror-stricken. That which 
the muzalem told him, that the Mahdi commanded but 
once, was reiterated by all the dervishes. There was 
therefore no help; it was necessary to ride. 

“T shall see Idris no more!”’ thought Gebhr. 

In his tigerish heart was concealed a sort of attachment 
for his older brother, so that at the thought that he would 
have to leave him in sickness he was seized by despair. 
In vain did Chamis and the Bedouins represent to him 
that they might fare better in Fashoda than in Omdur- 
man, and that Smain in all probability would reward 
them more bountifully than the caliph had done. No 
words could assuage Gebhr’s grief and rage, and the rage 
rebounded mainly upon Stas. 

It was indeed a day of martyrdom for the boy. He 
was not permitted to go to the market-place, so he could 
not earn anything or beg, and was compelled to work as 
a slave at the pack-saddles, which were being prepared 
for the journey. This became a more difficult matter 
as from hunger and torture he weakened very much. 
He was certain that he would die on the road; if not 
under Gebhr’s courbash, then from exhaustion.’ 

Fortunately the Greek, who had a good heart, came 
in at the evening to visit the children and to bid them 
farewell, and at the same time to provide for them on 
the way. He brought a few quinine powders, and besides 
these a few glass beads and a little food. Finally, learning 
of Idris’ sickness, he turned to Gebhr, Chamis, and the 
Bedouins. 

“Know this,” he said. “I come here by the Mahdi’s 


command.” 


172 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


And when they heard this they.ssmote with their fore- 
heads and he continued: 

“You are to feed the children on the way and treat 
them well. They are to render a report of your behavior 
to Smain. Smain shall write of this to the prophet. If 
any complaint against you comes here, the next post 
will carry a death sentence for you.” 

A new bow was the only reply to these words; in ad- 
dition Gebhr and Chamis had the miens of dogs on which 
muzzles are placed. 

The Greek then ordered them away, after which he 
thus spoke to the children in English: 

“T fabricated all this, for the Mahdi did not issue any 
new orders. But as he said that you were to go to Fashoda, 
it is necessary that you should reach there alive. I also 
reckoned upon this, that none of them will see either the 
Mahdi or the caliph before their departure.” 

After which to Stas: 

“T took umbrage at you, boy, and feel it yet. Do you 
know that you almost ruined me? The Mahdi was 
offended at me, and to secure his forgiveness I was forced 
to surrender to Abdullahi a considerable portion of my 
estate, and besides, I do not know for how long a time I 
have saved myself. In any case I shall not be able to 
assist the captives as I have heretofore done. But I felt 
sorry for you, particularly for her (and here he pointed 
at Nell). I have a daughter of the same age, whom I 
love more than my own life, and for her sake I have 
done everything which I have done. Christ will judge 
me for this— Up to this time she wears under her dress, 
on her breast, a silver cross. — Her name is the same as 
yours, little one. Were it not for her, I would have pre- 
ferred to die rather than to live in this hell.” 

He was deeply moved. For a while he was silent, after 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 173 
which he rubbed his forehead with his hand and began 


to speak of something else. 

“The Mahdi sends you to Fashoda with the idea that 
there you will die. In this manner he will revenge him- 
self upon you for your stubbornness, boy, which touched 
him deeply, and he will not lose his fame for ‘mercy.’ He 
always acts thus. But who knows who is destined to die 
first? Abdullahi suggested to him the idea that he should 
order the dogs who kidnapped you, to go with you. He 
rewarded them miserably, and now he fears that they 
may publish it. Besides, they both preferred that the 
people should not be told that there are still in Egypt 
troops, cannons, money, and Englishmen. —It will be 
a hard road and distant. You will go into a country 
desolate and unhealthy. So guard, as the eye in the 
head, those powders which I gave to you.” 

“Sir, order Gebhr once more not to dare to starve or 
hit Nell,”’ said Stas. 

“Do not fear. I commended you to the old sheik 
who has charge of the post. He is an old acquaintance 
of mine. I gave him a watch and with that I gained his 
protection for you.” 

Saying this, be began to bid them farewell. Taking 
Nell in his arms, he pressed her to his bosom and repeated: 

“May God bless you, my child.” 

In the meantime the sun descended and the night 
became starry. In the dusk resounded the snorting of 
horses and the groans of the heavily loaded camels. 


XX 


Tue old sheik Hatim faithfully kept his promise given 
to the Greek and watched over the children with great 
solicitude. The journey up the White Nile was difficult. 
They rode through Keteineh, Ed-Dueim, and Kawa; after- 
wards they passed Abba, a woody Nile island, on which 
before the war the Mahdi dwelt, in a hollow tree as a 
dervish hermit. The caravan often was compelled to 
make a detour around extensive floating masses overgrown 
with pyrus, or so-called “sudds,”’ from which the breeze 
brought the poisoned odor of decomposed leaves carried 
by the current of water. English engineers had previously 
cut through these barriers, and formerly steamboats 
could ascend from Khartfim to Fashoda and farther. At 
present the river was blocked again and, being unable to 
run freely, overflowed on both sides. The right and left 
banks of this region were covered by a high jungle amid 
which stood hillocks of termites and solitary gigantic 
trees; here and there the forest reached the river. In 
dry places grew groves of acacias. During the first week 
they saw Arabian settlements and towns composed of 
houses with strange conical roofs made of dochnu straw, 
but beyond Abba, from the settlement of Géz Abu Guma 
they rode in the country of the blacks. It was nearly 
desolate, for the dervishes had almost totally carried away 
the local negro population and sold it in the markets 
of Khartiim, Omdurmaén, Fasher, Dar, El-Obeid, and other 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 175 


cities in the Sudan, Darfur, and Kordofan. Those inhab- 
itants who succeeded in escaping slavery in thickets in the 
forests were exterminated by starvation and small-pox, 
which raged with unusual virulence along the White and 
Blue Niles. The dervishes themselves said that whole 
nations had died of it. The former plantations of sorghum, 
manioc, and bananas were covered by a jungle. Only 
wild beasts, not pursued by any one, multiplied plenti- 
fully. Sometimes before the evening twilight the children 
saw from a distance great herds of elephants, resembling 
movable rocks, walking with slow tread to watering places 
known only to themselves. At the sight of them Hatim, 
a former ivory dealer, smacked his lips, sighed, and spoke 
thus to Stas in confidence: 

“Mashallah! How much wealth there is here! But 
now it is not worth while to hunt, for the Mahdi has 
prohibited Egyptian traders from coming to Khartfim, 
and there is no one to sell the tusks to, unless to the emirs 
for umbajas.” 

They met also giraffes, which, seeing the caravan, es- 
caped hurriedly with heavy ambling pace, swinging their 
long necks as if they werelame. Beyond Géz Abu Guma 
appeared, more and more frequently, buffaloes and whole 
herds of antelopes. The people of the caravan when they 
lacked fresh meat hunted for them, but almost always in 
vain, for the watchful and fleet animals would not allow 
themselves to be approached or surrounded. 

Provisions were generally scarce, as owing to the de- 
population of the region they could not obtain either 
millet or bananas, or fish, which in former times were 
furnished by the Shilluk and Dinka tribes who exchanged 
them willingly for glass beads and brass wire. Hatim, 
however, did not permit the children to die of starvation, 
and what is more he kept a strict control over Gebhr; 


176 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


and once, when the latter at about bed-time struck Stas 

while removing saddles from the camels, he ordered the 
Sudanese to be stretched upon the ground and whipped 
thirty times on each heel with a bamboo. For two days 
the cruel Sudanese could walk only on his toes and cursed 
the hour when he left Fayfim, and revenged himself upon 
a young slave named Kali, who had been presented to 
him. 

Stas at the beginning was almost pleased that he had 
left infected Omdurman and that he saw a country of 
which he always had dreamed. His strong constitution 
thus far endured perfectly the toils of the journey and 
the abundant food restored his energy. Several times 
during the journey and at the stops he whispered to his 
little sister that it was possible to escape even from beyond 
the White Nile, and that he did not at all abandon that de- 
sign. But her health disquieted him. Three weeks after 
the day of their departure from OmdurmAén Nell had not in- 
deed succumbed to the fever, but her face grew thinner and 
instead of being tanned it became more and more trans- 
parent, and her little hands looked as if they were moulded 
of wax. She did not lack care and even such comforts 
as Stas and Dinah with the aid of Hatim could provide, 
but she lacked the salubrious desert air. The moist and 
torrid climate united with the hardships of the journey 
more and more undermined the strength of the child. 

Stas, beginning at Géz Abu Guma, gave her daily a half 
powder of quinine and worried terribly at the thought 
that this remedy, which could be obtained nowhere later, 
would not last him long. But it could not be helped, for 
it was necessary above all things to prevent the fever. 
At moments despair possessed him. He deluded himself, 
however, with the hope that Smain, if he desired to ex- 
change them for his own children, would have to seek 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS Weg 


for them a more salubrious place than the neighborhood 
of Fashoda. 

But misfortune seemed continually to pursue its vic- 
tims. On the day before the arrival at Fashoda, Dinah, 
who while in Omdurman felt weak, fainted suddenly at 
the untying of the small luggage with Nell’s things taken 
from Fayiim, and fell from the camel. Stas and Chamis 
revived her with the greatest difficulty. She did not, 
however, regain consciousness, or rather she regained it 
at the evening only to bid a tearful farewell to her be- 
loved little lady, and to die. After her death Gebhr 
insisted upon cutting off her ears in order to show them 
to Smain as proof that she died during the journey, and 
to demand of him a separate payment for her abduction. 
This was done with a slave who expired during the jour- 
ney. But Hatim, at the entreaties of Stas and Nell, would 
not consent to this; so they buried her decently and her 
mound was safeguarded against hyenas with the assistance 
of stones and thorns. The children felt yet more lonely for 
they realized that in her they had lost the only near and 
devoted soul. This was a terrible blow, particularly for 
Nell, so Stas endeavored to comfort her throughout the 
whole night and the following day. 

The sixth week of the journey arrived. On the next 
day at noon the caravan reached Fashoda, but they 
found only a pyre. The Mahdists bivouacked under the 
bare heaven or in huts hurriedly built of grass and boughs. 
Three days previously the settlement had been burnt 
down. There remained only the clay walls of the round 
hovels, blackened with smoke, and, standing close by 
the water, a great wooden shed, which during the Egyptian 
times served as a storage-place for ivory; in it at present 
lived the commander of the dervishes, Emir Seki Tamala. 
He was a distinguished personage among the Mahdists, 


178 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


a secret enemy of Abdullahi, but on the other hand a 
personal friend of Hatim. He received the old sheik and 
the children hospitably, but immediately at the intro- 
duction told them unfavorable news. 

Smain was not in Fashoda. Two days before he had gone 
southeast from the Nile on an expedition for slaves, and 
it was not known when he would return, as the nearer 
localities were so depopulated that it was necessary to 
seek for human chattels very far. Near Fashoda, indeed, 
lay Abyssinia, with which the dervishes likewise waged 
war. But Smain having only three hundred men did 
not dare to cross its borders, guarded vigilantly, at pres- 
ent, by King John’s warlike inhabitants and soldiers. 

In view of this Seki Tamala and Hatim began to deliber- 
ate as to what was to be done with the children. The con- 
sultation was held mainly at supper, to which the emir 
invited Stas and Nell. 

“T,” he said to Hatim, “must soon start with all the 
men upon a distant expedition against Emin Pasha,} 
who is located at Lado, having steamers and troops 
there. Such is the command which you, Hatim, brought 
me. Therefore you must return to Omdurman, for in 
Fashoda there will not remain a single living soul. Here 
there is no place in which to live, there is nothing to eat, and 
sickness is raging. I know, indeed, that the white people 
do not catch small-pox, but fever will kill those children 
within a month.” 

“T was ordered to bring them to Fashoda,” replied 
Hatim, “so I brought them, and need not trouble myself 


_ 1 Emin Pasha, by birth a German Jew, was after the occupa- 
tion by Egypt of the region around Albert Nyanza, Governor of 
the Equatorial Provinces. His headquarters were at Wadelai. 
The Mahdists attacked it a number of times. He was rescued 
by Stanley, who conducted him with a greater part of his troops 
to Bagamoyo, on the Indian Ocean. 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 179 


about them any more. But they were recommended to 
me by my friend, the Greek Kaliopuli; for that reason I 
would not want them to perish.” 

“ And this will surely happen.” 

“Then what is to be done?”’ 

“Instead of leaving them in desolate Fashoda, send 
them to Smain together with those men who brought 
them to Omdurmfn. Smain went to the mountains, to 
a dry and high region where the fever does not kill the 
people as on the river.” 

“ How will they find Smain?” 

“By the trail of fire. He will set fire to the jungle, 
first, in order to drive the game to the rocky ravines in 
which it will be easy to surround and slaughter it, and 
then in order to scare out of the thickets the heathens, 
who hid in them before pursuit. Smain will not be hard 
to find —”’ 

“Will they, however, overtake him?” 

“He will at times pass a week in one locality to cure 
meat. Even though he rode away two or three days ago 
they surely will overtake him.” 

“But why should they chase after him? He will return 
to Fashoda anyway.’ 

“No. If the slave-hunt is successful, fe will take the 
slaves to the cities to sell them — ” 

“What is to be done?” 

“Remember that both of us must leave Fashoda. 
The children, even though the fever does not ill them, 
will die of starvation.” 

“By the prophet! That is true.” 

And there really remained nothing else to do but to 
despatch the children upon a new wandering life. Hatim, 
who appeared to be a very good man, was only troubled 
about this: whether Gebhr, with whose cruel disposition 


180 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


he had become acquainted during the journey, would 
not treat them too harshly. But the stern Seki Tamala, 
who aroused fear even in his own soldiers, commanded 
the Sudanese to be summoned, and announced to him 
that he was to convey the children alive and in good 
health to Smain, and at the same time to treat them 
kindly, as otherwise he would be hung. The good Hatim 
entreated the emir to present to little Nell a female slave, 
who would serve her and take care of her during the 
journey and in Smain’s camp. Nell was delighted greatly 
with this gift as it appeared that the slave was a young 
Dinka girl with pleasant features and a sweet facial 
expression. 

Stas knew that Fashoda was death, so he did not at all 
beg Hatim that he should not send them upon a new 
journey, the third in rotation. In his soul, he thought 
also that riding in an easterly and southerly direction, he 
must approach the Abyssinian boundaries and that he 
might escape. He had a hope that upon the dry table- 
land Nell would be safeguarded against the fever, and 
for these reasons he willingly and zealously entered into 
the preparation for the journey. 

Gebhr, Chamis, and the two Bedouins also were not 
opposed to the expedition, reckoning that at Smain’s 
side they would succeed in capturing a considerable 
number of slaves, and afterwards sell them profitably in 
the markets. They knew that slave-dealers in time 
amass great fortunes; in any case they preferred to ride 
rather than to remain at that place under the immediate 
control of Hatim and Seki Tamala. 

The preparations, however, consumed considerable time, 
particularly as the children had to recuperate. The 
camels were unavailable now for this journey, so the 
Arabs, and Stas and Nell were to ride on horseback. Kali, 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 181 


Gebhr’s slave, and Nell’s maid, called Mea upon Stas’ 
suggestion, were to go on foot beside the horses. Hatim 
also procured a donkey to carry a tent intended for the 
little girl and provisions for three days for the children. 
More Seki Tamala could not give them. For Nell, some- 
thing in the nature of a ladies’ saddle, made of saddle- 
cloth, palm, and bamboo mats was constructed. 

The children passed three days in Fashoda to rest, but 
the countless number of mosquitoes above the river made 
their stay unendurable. During the daytime appeared 
swarms of big blue flies, which did not indeed bite, but 
were so vexing that they crept into the ears, filled the 
eyes, and fell even into the mouths. Stas had heard 
while in Port Said that the mosquitoes and flies spread 
fever and an infection of the inflammation of the eyes. 
Finally he himself entreated Seki Tamala to hurry the 
expedition, particularly as the rainy spring season was 
approaching. 


XXI 


“Sras, why are we riding and speeding and have not yet 
reached Smain?”’ 

“T do not know. He undoubtedly is moving rapidly 
ahead, in order to reach as quickly as possible the region 
in which he can catch negroes. Are you anxious that we 
should join his detachment?” 

The little girl nodded her pale-yellow little head in 
sign that she was very much concerned about it. 

“Why should you be so anxious?” asked Stas. 

“Because perhaps Gebhr will not dare in Smain’s com- 
pany to beat that poor Kali so cruelly.” 

“Smain probably is no better. They all have no mercy 
for their slaves.” 

Sis that sor ~ 

And two little tears coursed over her emaciated cheeks. 

It was the ninth day of the journey. Gebhr, who was 
now the leader of the caravan, in the beginning easily 
discovered traces of Smain’s march. His way was in- 
dicated by a trail of burnt jungle and camping grounds 
strewn with picked bones and various remnants. But 
after the lapse of five days they came upon a vast expanse 
of burnt steppe, on which the wind had carried the fire 
in all directions. The trails became deceptive and con- 
fusing, as, apparently, Smain had divided his detachment 
into ten or more small divisions, in order to facilitate 
the surrounding of the game and the capture of pro- 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 183 


visions. Gebhr did not know in which direction to go, 
and often it happened that the caravan, after moving 
long in a circle, returned to the same place from which it 
started. Afterwards they chanced upon forests, and 
after passing through them they entered upon a rocky 
country where the ground was covered by smooth rocks 
or small stones, scattered over the immense expanse so 
thickly that the children were reminded of city pave- 
ments. The vegetation there was scant. Only here and 
there, in the crannies of rocks, grew euphorbias, mimosas, 
and thorny and scrubby plants and, more infrequently 
yet, a slender, light green tree, which Kali in the Kis- 
wahili language called “m/’ti”’ and with the leaves of which 
the horses were fed. In this locality little rivers and 
streams were lacking, but fortunately from time to time 
the rain began to fall, so they found water in the hollows 
and excavations of the rocks. 

The game was driven away by Smain’s detachment 
and the caravan would have died of starvation, were it 
not for a multitude of guinea-fowls which every little 
while started from under the horses’ legs, and at evening 
encumbered the trees so thickly that it was sufficient to 
shoot in their direction to cause a few to fall to the ground. 
In addition they were not timid and permitted a close 
approach, and they rose so heavily and indolently that 
Saba, rushing ahead of the caravan, seized and choked 
some of them almost every day. 

Chamis killed about a score of them daily with an old 
shotgun which he had bartered from one of the dervishes 
serving under Hatim during the trip from Omdurm4n to 
Fashoda. He did not, however, have shot for more than 
twenty charges and he became uneasy at the thought of 
what would happen when the supply was exhausted. 
Indeed, notwithstanding the scaring away of the game, 


184 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


there appeared at times amidst the rocks herds of ariels, 
beautiful antelopes common in all Central Africa, but it 
was necessary to shoot at the ariels with the short rifle, 
while they did not know how to use Stas’ gun and Gebhr 
did not want to place it in his hands. 

The Sudanese likewise began to grow uneasy at the 
long journey. At times it occurred to him to return to 
Fashoda, because in case he and Smain should miss each 
other they might stray in wild regions in which, not to 
speak of starvation, they were in danger of attacks of 
wild animals, and savage negroes panting for revenge for 
the hunt which had been despatched against them. But 
as he did not know that Seki Tamala was preparing an 
expedition against Emin, for the conversation about this 
was not held in his presence, he was seized with terror at 
the thought of appearing before the face of the puissant 
emir, who had commanded him to convey the children 
to Smain and had given him a letter addressed to him 
and in addition had announced that if he did not acquit 
himself properly of his duty, he would be hung. All of 
this taken together filled his soul with bitterness and 
rage. He did not dare, however, to revenge himself for 
his disappointments upon Stas and Nell; instead the back 
of poor Kali was covered with blood under the courbash. 
The young slave approached his cruel master always 
trembling and in fear. In vain he embraced his feet and 
kissed his hands; in vain he fell upon his face before him. 
The stony heart was not moved either by humility or 
by groans, and the courbash gashed the body of the un- 
happy boy upon the most trivial cause and often for 
none whatever. At night his feet were placed in a wooden 
board with an opening to prevent him from running 
away. During the day he walked tied with a rope fast- 
ened to a horse; this amused Chamis very much. Nell 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 185 


shed tears over Kali’s plight. Stas’ heart raged and a 
number of times he passionately interceded for him, but 
when he perceived that this inflamed Gebhr still more, 
he set his teeth and remained silent. 

But Kali understood that those two interceded for him, 
and he began to love them deeply with his afflicted heart. 

For two days they rode in a stony ravine lined with 
high steep rocks. From the stones heaped and scattered 
in disorder it was easy to perceive that during the rainy 
season the ravine was filled with water, but at present 
its bed was entirely dry. On the walls, on both sides, 
grew small patches of grass, a great many thorns, and 
here and there even a tree. Gebhr directed his way by 
this stony gullet because it went continually upwards; 
so he thought that it would lead him to some eminence 
from which he could descry smoke during the daytime 
and Smain’s camp-fires at night. In some places the 
ravine became so narrow that only two horses could go 
side by side; in other places it widened into small, round 
valleys, surrounded as if by high stone walls, on which 
sat big baboons, playing with each other, barking, and 
displaying their teeth at the caravan. 

It was five o’clock in the afternoon. The sun already 
lowered towards the west. Gebhr thought of a resting 
place; he wanted only to reach some small valley in which 
he could construct a zareba, that is, enclose the caravan 
and horses with a fence of thorny mimosa and acacias, 
for protection against attacks of wild animals. Saba 
rushed ahead, barking at the baboons which at sight of 
him shook uneasily, and all of a sudden disappeared in 
the bend of the ravine. Echo repeated loudly his barking. 

Suddenly, however, he became silent and after a while 
he came rushing to the horses with hair bristling on his 


back and tail curled under him. The Bedouins and Gebhr 


186 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


understood that something must have frightened him, 
but staring at each other and desiring to ascertain what 
it could be, they proceeded farther. 

But riding around a small bend, the horses shied and 
stood still in one moment as if thunderstruck by the 
sight which met their eyes. 

On a fair-sized rock situated in the middle of the ravine, 
which was quite wide at that place, lay a lion. 

At most, a hundred paces separated him from them. 
The powerful beast, seeing the riders and horses, rose on 
his fore paws and began to gaze at them. The sun, which 
now stood low, illumined his huge head and shaggy 
breasts, and in that ruddy luster he was like one of those 
sphinxes which ornament the entrances to ancient Egyp- 
tian temples. 

The horses began to sit upon their haunches, to wince 
and draw back. The amazed and frightened riders did 
not know what to do; so from mouth to mouth there 
flowed only the fearsome and helpless words, “Allah! 
Bismillah! Allah akbar!” 

And the king of the wilderness gazed at them from 
above, motionless as if cast of bronze. 

Gebhr and Chamis had heard from traders, who came 
to Egypt from the Sudan with ivory and gum, that lions 
sometimes lie down in the paths of caravans, which, on 
account of this, must turn aside. But here there was no 
place which they could turn to. It behoved them per- 
haps to turn about and fly. Yes! But in such case it 
was a certainty that the dreadful beast would rush after 
them in pursuit. 

Again resounded the feverish interrogations: 

“What is to be done?” 

“Allah! Perhaps he will step aside.” 

“No, he will not.” 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 187 


And again a silence fell. Only the snorting of the 
horses and the quickened breathing of the human breasts 
could be heard. 

“Untie Kali!” Chamis suddenly exclaimed to Gebhr, 
“and we will escape on the horses; the lion will first over- 
take him, and kill him only.” 

“Do that,” repeated the Bedouins. 

But Gebhr surmised that in such a case Kali, in the 
twinkling of an eye, would climb on the rocky wall and 
the lion would chase after the horses; therefore another 
horrible idea suggested itself to him. He would kill the 
boy with his knife and fling his body ahead of him and 
then the lion, dashing after them, would see on the ground 
the bleeding corpse and stop to devour it. 

So he dragged Kali by the rope to the saddle and had 
already raised his knife, when in the same second Stas 
clutched the wide sleeve of his jubha. 

“Villain! What are you doing?” 

Gebhr began to tug and, if the boy had seized him by 
the hand, he would have freed it at once, but it was not 
so easy with the sleeve; so he began to tug, and splutter 
with a voice stifled with fury. 

“Dog! if he is not enough, I shall stab you both! Allah! 
I shall stab you! I shall stab you!” 

And Stas paled mortally, for like lightning the thought 
flashed through his mind that the lion chasing after the 
horses above all might actually overlook Kali, and in 
such case Gebhr with the greatest certainty would stab 
them both in turn. 

So pulling the sleeve with redoubled strength he shouted: 

“Give me the short rifle! I will kill the lion!” 

These words astonished the Bedouins, but Chamis, who 
had witnessed Stas’ shooting in Port Said, began at once 
1O.Cry: 


188 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


“Give him the rifle! He will kill the lion.” 

Gebhr recollected at once the shots on Lake Karin 
and in view of the horrible danger, assented. With great 
haste he gave the boy the short rifle and Chamis, as quick 
as a thought, opened the cartridge box, from which Stas 
took a large fistful of cartridges, after which he leaped off 
his horse, inserted the cartridges in the barrels, and moved 
forward. 

For the first few steps he was as though stupefied and 
saw only himself and Nell with throats cut by Gebhr’s 
knife. But soon the nearer and more horrible danger 
commanded him to forget about everything else. He 
had a lion before him! At the sight of the animal his 
eyes grew dim. He felt a chill on his cheeks and nose, 
he felt that he had feet as if made of lead and he could 
scarcely breathe. Plainly he feared. In Port Said he 
had read during the recitation time of lion-hunts, but it 
was one thing to examine pictures in books and another 
to stand eye to eye with the monster, who now gazed at 
him as if with amazement, wrinkling his broad forehead 
which resembled a shield. 

The Arabs held the breath in their breasts, for never 
in their lives had they seen anything like this. On the 
one side was a small boy, who amid the steep rocks ap- 
peared yet smaller, on the other a powerful beast, golden 
in the sun’s rays, magnificent, formidable — “The lord 
with the great head,’”’ as the Sudanese say. 

Stas overcame with the whole force of his will the in- 
ertness of his limbs and advanced farther. For a while 
yet it seemed to him that his heart had leaped up into 
his throat, and this feeling continued until he raised the 
rifle to his face. Then it was necessary to think of some- 
thing else. Whether to approach nearer or to fire at once; 
where to aim. ‘The smaller the distance the surer the 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 189 


shot — therefore nearer and nearer! — forty paces, too 
many yet; — thirty! —twenty! Already the breeze car- 
ried the pungent animal odor. 

The boy stood. 

“A bullet between the eyes, or it will be all over with 
me,” he thought. “In the name of the Father and of the 
Son —!” 

And the lion rose, stretched his body, and lowered his 
head. His lips began to open, his brows to contract over 
his eyes. This mite of being had dared to approach too 
closely — so he prepared for a leap, sitting with haunches 
quivering on his hind legs. 

But Stas, during the twinkling of an eye, perceived 
that the bead of the rifle was in a direct line with the 
forehead of the animal — and pulled the trigger. 

The shot pealed. The lion reared so that for a while 
he straightened out to his full height; after which he 
toppled over on his back with his four paws up. 

And in the final convulsions he rolled off the rock onto 
the ground. 

Stas for several minutes covered him with his rifle, but 
seeing that the quivering ceased and that the tawny 
body was stretched out inertly, he opened the rifle and 
inserted another cartridge. 

The stony walls reverberated yet with the thunderous 
echo. Gebhr, Chamis, and the Bedouins could not at 
once descry what had happened, as on the previous night 
rain had fallen, and owing to the dampness of the weather 
the smoke veiled everything in the narrow ravine. Only 
when the smoke abated, did they shout with joy, and 
wanted to rush towards the boy, but in vain, as no power 
could force the horses to move ahead. 

And Stas turned around, took in the four Arabs with 
his gaze and fixed his eyes on Gebhr. 


190 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 
“Ah! There has been enough of this!” he said through 


his set teeth. “You have exceeded the measure. You 
shall not torment Nell or any one else any more.” 

And suddenly he felt that his nose and cheeks turned 
pale, but this was a different chill, caused not by fright, 
but by a terrible and inflexible resolution from which 
the heart in the bosom becomes, for the time being, iron. 

“Yes! It is imperative! These are mere villains, 
executioners, murderers, and Nell is in their hands!”’ 

“You shall not murder her!”’ he repeated. 

He approached them — again stood, and suddenly with 
the rapidity of lightning raised the rifle to his face. 

Two shots, one after the other, jarred the ravine with 
an echo. Gebhr tumbled upon the ground, and Chamis 
swayed in the saddle and struck his horse’s neck with 
his bleeding forehead. 

The two Bedouins uttered a horrified cry of consternation 
and, springing from the horses, dashed at Stas. A bend 
was not far behind them, and if they had run in the other 
direction, which Stas in his soul desired, they could have 
saved their lives. But blinded by terror and fury they 
thought that they would reach the boy before he would 
be able to change the cartridges, and cut him to pieces 
with their knives. Fools! They ran barely a dozen paces 
when again the ill-omened rifle cracked; the ravine re- 
sounded with the echo of new shots and both fell with 
faces on the ground, flouncing about like fishes taken out 
of water. One of them, who in the haste was hurt the 
least, raised himself and propped himself on his hands, 
but at that moment Saba sunk his fangs in his throat. 

And mortal silence ensued. 

It was broken only by the moans of Kali, who threw 
himself on his knees and, stretching out his hands, ex- 
claimed in the broken Kiswahili tongue: 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 191 


“Bwana kubwa! (Great master!) Kill the lion! Kill 
bad people, but do not kill Kali!”’ 

Stas, however, paid no heed to his cries. For some time 
he stood as if dazed; after which, observing Nell’s pallid 
face and half-conscious eyes, opened widely from terror, 
he ran towards her. 

“Nell, do not fear! — Nell, we are free!” 

In fact they actually were free, but astray in a wild, 
uninhabited region, in the heart of the land of the Blacks. 





ae 
a ah oe j 





PART SECOND 


I 


BEFORE Stas and the young negro dragged the slain Arabs 
and the lion’s heavy body to the side of the ravine the 
sun had descended still more and night was soon to fall. 
But it was impossible to sleep in the vicinity of the corpses; 
so, though Kali stroked his stomach and repeated, smack- 
ing with his tongue, “Msuri niama” (good meat), Stas 
did not permit him to busy himself with the “niama,” 
and instead ordered him to catch the horses, which ran 
away after the shooting. The black boy did this with 
extraordinary skill. Instead of running after them in the 
ravine, in which case they would have sped away farther 
and farther, he climbed to the top and, shortening his 
way by avoiding the bends, he intercepted the startled 
steeds from the front. In this manner he easily caught 
two; and two more he drove towards Stas. Only Gebhr’s 
and Chamis’ horses could not be found, but at any rate 
four remained, not counting the lap-eared creature, 
loaded with the tent and things, who, in view of the tragic 
occurrences, displayed a true philosophical calm. They 
found him beyond a bend, cropping closely and without 
any haste the grass growing on the bottom of the ravine. 

The medium-sized Sudanese horses are accustomed 
generally to the sight of wild animals, but they fear lions, 
so it was with considerable difficulty that they were 
led past the rock which was blackened with a puddle of 
blood. The horses snorted, dilating their nostrils and 


~s, 


196 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


stretching their necks towards the blood-stained stones; 
nevertheless, when the donkey, only pricking his ears a 
little, passed by calmly, they also passed on. Night had 
already fallen; they nevertheless rode over half a mile, 
and halted only in a place where the ravine widened 
again into a small amphitheatrical vale, overgrown with 
dense thorns and prickly mimosa trees. 

“Master,” said the young negro, “Kali will make a 
fire — a big fire.” 

And taking the broad Sudanese sword, which he had 
removed from Gebhr’s corpse, he began to cut with it 
thorns and even little trees. After building the fire, he 
continued to cut until he secured a supply which would 
suffice for the whole night, after which with Stas he pitched 
the tent for Nell, under a steep perpendicular wall of the 
ravine, and later they surrounded it with a semi-circular, 
broad and prickly fence, or a so-called zareba. 

Stas knew from descriptions of African travels that 
travelers in this manner safeguarded themselves against 
the attacks of wild animals. The horses could not be 
placed within the fence; so the boy, unsaddling them and 
removing the tin utensils and bags, only hobbled them so 
that they should not stray too far in seeking grass or 
water. Mea finally found water near-by in a stony cavity, 
forming as it were a little basin under the opposite rocks. 
There was so copious a supply that it sufficed for the 
horses and the cooking of the guinea-fowls which were 
shot that morning by Chamis. In the pack-saddles, 
which the donkey bore, they also found about three pots 
of durra, a few fistfuls of salt, and a bunch of dried manioc 
roots. 

This sufficed for a bounteous supper. Kali and Mea 
mainly took advantage of it. The young negro whom 
Gebhr had starved in a cruel manner ate such an amount 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 197 


of food as would have sated two men. But for this 
he was grateful with his whole heart to his new master 
and mistress, and immediately after supper he fell on 
his face before Stas and Nell in token that he desired to 
remain their slave to the end of his life, and afterwards 
he also prostrated himself with due humility before Stas’ 
short rifle, understanding that it was the best policy to 
conciliate so formidable a weapon. After this he an- 
nounced that during the slumber of the “great master” 
and the “bibi” he, alternately with Mea, would watch 
that the fire should not go out, and squatted near it, 
mumbling quietly something in the nature of a song, in 
which every little while was repeated the refrain, “Simba 
kufa, simba kufa,” which in the Kiswahili language 
means, “The lion is killed.” 

But the “great master” and the little “bibi” were not 
inclined to sleep. Nell, at Stas’ urgent request, barely 
swallowed a few pieces of guinea-fowl and a few grains of 
boiled durra. She said that she did not care to eat or 
sleep but only to drink. A fear seized Stas that she might 
be suffering from fever, but he soon became satisfied that 
her hands were cool and even too cold. He persuaded her 
to enter the tent where he prepared bedding for her, 
first searching carefully in the grass for scorpions. He 
himself sat upon a stone with short rifle in hand to defend 
her from attacks by wild beasts, if the fire did not afford 
sufficient protection. He was beset by great fatigue and 
exhaustion. In his soul he repeated to himself, “I killed 
Gebhr and Chamis; I killed the Bedouins; I killed the 
lion, and we are free.”’ But it was as if those words were 
whispered to him by some one else and as if he himself did 
not comprehend their full meaning. He had not a feeling 
that they were free, but that something awful at the same 
time had happened which filled him with uneasiness and 


198 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


weighed upon his bosom like a heavy stone. Finally his 
thoughts began to grow blunt. Fora long time he gazed at 
the big moths hovering above the flame and in the end he 
nodded and dozed. Kali also dozed, but awoke every 
little while and threw twigs into the fire. 

The night became dark and, what is a rare occurrence 
under the tropics, very still. They could hear only the 
cracking of the burning thorns and the hissing of flames 
which illumined the overhanging rocks forming a semi- 
circle. The moon did not shine into the depths of the 
ravine, but above twinkled a swarm of unknown stars. 
The air became so cool that Stas shook off his drowsi- 
ness and began to worry whether the chill would not in- 
commode little Nell. 

But he became reassured, when he recollected that 
he left her under the tent upon the plaid cloth, which 
Dinah took with her from Fayfim. It also occurred to 
him that riding continuously from the Nile upwards, 
though imperceptibly, they must have ridden, through so 
many days, quite high; therefore to a region which was 
not threatened with fever as are the low river banks. 
The penetrating night chill appeared to confirm this 
supposition. 

And this thought encouraged him. He went for a 
moment to Nell’s tent to listen whether she slept peace- 
fully; after which he returned, sat nearer the fire, and again 
began to doze and even fell into a sound slumber. 

Suddenly he was awakened by the growling of Saba, 
who previously had lain down to sleep close by his feet. 

Kali awoke also and both began to look about uneasily 
at the mastiff, who, stretching out like a chord, pricked 
his ears, and with quivering nostrils scented in the direc- 
tion from which they had come, gazed fixedly at the same 
time into the darkness. The hair bristled on his neck 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 199 


and back and his breasts heaved from air which during 
the growling he inhaled into his lungs. 

The young slave flung dry twigs into the fire as 
speedily as possible. 

“Master,” he whispered. “Take the rifle! Take the 
rifle!” 

Stas took the rifle and moved before the fire to see 
better in the dusky depth of the ravine. Saba’s growls 
changed into barks. For a long time nothing could be 
heard, after which, however, from the distance there 
reached the ears of Kali and Stas a hollow, clattering 
sound as if some great animals were rushing in the di- 
rection of the fire. This sound reverberated in the still- 
ness with an echo against the stony walls, and became 
louder and louder. 

Stas realized that a dire danger was drawing near. 
But what could it be? Buffaloes, perhaps? Perhaps a 
pair of rhinoceroses seeking an exit from the ravine? In 
such case if the report of the shot did not scare them and 
turn them back, nothing could save the caravan, for 
those animals, not less ferocious and aggressive than 
rapacious beasts, do not fear fire and tread under foot 
everything in their way. 

If, however, it should be a division of Smain’s forces 
who, having encountered the corpses in the ravine, are 
pursuing the murderers? Stas did not know which would 
be better — a sudden death or new captivity? In addi- 
tion it flitted through his mind that if Smain himself was 
in the division, he might spare them, but if he was not, 
then the dervishes would at once kill them or, what is 
worse, torture them in a horrible manner before their 
death. “Ah,” he thought, “God grant that these are 
animals, not men!” 

In the meantime the clatter increased and changed 


200 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


into a thunder of hoof-beats until finally there emerged 
out of the darkness glittering eyes, dilated nostrils, and 
wind-tossed manes. 

“Horses!”’ cried Kali. 

In fact they were Gebhr’s and Chamis’ horses. They 
came running, driven evidently by fright, but dashing 
into the circle of light and seeing their fettered com- 
panions, they reared on their hind legs; after which, 
snorting, they implanted their hoofs in the ground and 
remained for a while motionless. 

But Stas did not lower his rifle. He was certain that 
at any moment after the horses a shaggy-haired lion or 
a flat-skulled panther would appear. But he waited in 
vain. The horses quieted slowly, and what was more, 
Saba after a certain time ceased to scent. Instead, he 
turned about a few times on the spot as dogs usually do, 
lay down, rolled himself into a ball and closed his eyes. 
Apparently, if any rapacious animal had chased the 
horses, then, having smelt the smoke or seen the reflec- 
tion of the fire on the rocks, it had retreated into the 
distance. 

“Something must have frightened them badly,” Stas 
said to Kali, “since they did not fear to rush by the 
body of the lion and the men’s corpses.” 

“Master,” answered the boy, “Kali can guess what 
happened. Many, many hyenas and jackals entered the 
ravine to get at the corpses. The horses ran before them, 
but the hyenas are not chasing them, for they are eating 
Gebhr and those others — ” 

“That may be, but do you now unsaddle the horses; 
remove the utensils and bags and bring them here. Do 
not fear, for the rifle will protect you.” 

“Kali does not fear,”’ answered the boy. 

And pushing aside the thorns close by the rocks, he 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 201 


slipped out of the zareba. In the meantime Nell came 
out of the tent. 

Stas rose at once and, pressing his nose close to her, 
claimed his usual caress. But she, extending at first her 
hand, withdrew it at once as if with aversion. 

“Stas, what has happened?” she asked. 

“Nothing. Those two horses came running up. Did 
their hoof-beats awaken you?” 

“T was awake before then and even wanted to come 
out of the tent, but — ”’ 

“But what?” 

“T thought that you might get angry.” 

et Ab your. 

And Nell raised her eyes and began to gaze at him with 
a peculiar look with which she had never eyed him 
before. Great astonishment stole over Stas’ face, for in 
her words and gaze he plainly read fear. 

“She fears me,” he thought. 

And in the first moment he felt something like a gleam 
of satisfaction. He was flattered by the thought that, 
after what he had accomplished, even Nell regarded him not 
only as a man fully matured, but as a formidable warrior 
spreading alarm about. But this lasted only a short 
time, for misfortune had developed in him an observing 
mind and talent; he discerned, therefore, that in those 
uneasy eyes of the little girl could be seen, besides fright, 
abhorrence, as it were, of what had happened, of the 
bloodshed and the horrors which she that day had 
witnessed. He recalled how, a few moments before, she 
withdrew her hand, not wishing to pat Saba, who had 
finished, by strangling, one of the Bedouins. Yes! Stas 
himself felt an incubus on his breast. It was one thing 
to read in Port Said about American trappers, killing 
in the far west red-skinned Indians by the dozens, and 


202 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


another to accomplish that personally and see men, alive 
a short while before, struggling in their death-throes, in 
a pool of blood. Yes, Nell’s heart undoubtedly was full 
of fear and at the same time aversion which would always 
remain with her. “She will fear me,” Stas thought, “and 
in the depths of her heart, involuntarily, she will not cease 
holding it ill of me, and this will be my reward for all 
that I have done for her.” 

At this thought great bitterness swelled in his bosom, 
for it was apparent to him that if it were not for Nell he 
would either have been killed or would have escaped. 
For her he suffered all that he had endured; and those 
tortures and that hunger resulted only in this, that she 
now stood before him frightened, as if she was not the 
same little sister, and lifted her eyes towards him not 
with former trustfulness, but with a strange fear. Stas 
suddenly felt very unhappy. For the first time in his life 
he understood what it was to be moved to tears. In spite 
of his will tears flowed to his eyes and were it not for the 
fact that it did not under any circumstances become “a 
formidable warrior” to weep, he might perhaps have shed 
tears. 

He restrained himself, however, and, turning to the 
little girl, asked: 

“Do you fear, Nell?” 

And she replied in a low voice: 

“Somehow — it is so horrible!” 

At this Stas ordered Kali to bring the saddle-cloths from 
a saddle and, covering with one of them a rock on which he 
had previously dozed, he spread the other upon the ground 
and said: 

“Sit here beside me near the fire. How chilly the night 
is! If sleep overcomes you, rest your head upon me and 
you will fall asleep.” 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 203 


But Nell repeated: 

“Somehow — it is so horrible!”’ 

Stas wrapped her carefully in plaids and for some time 
they sat in silence, supporting each other and illuminated 
by a rosy luster which crept over the rocks and sparkled 
on the mica plates with which the stony fissures were 
bespangled. 

Beyond the zareba could be heard the snorting of horses 
and the crunching of grass in their teeth. 

“Listen, Nell,’ Stas spoke out. “I had to do that — 
Gebhr threatened that he would stab us both if the lion 
would not be content with Kali and should continue to 
pursue them. Didn’t you hear him? Think of it; he 
threatened by that not only me, but you. And he would 
have done it. I tell you sincerely that if it were not for 
that threat, though formerly I already was thinking of 
it, I would not have shot at them. I think I could not — 
But he exceeded the measure. You saw how cruelly 
before that time he treated Kali. And Chamis? How 
vilely he betrayed us. Besides, do you know what would 
have happened if they did not find Smain? Gebhr would 
likewise have vented his anger upon us — upon you. It is 
dreadful to think that he would have whipped you daily 
with the courbash, and would have tortured us both to 
death, and after our death he would return to Fashoda 
and say that we died of fever. Nell, I did not do that 
from fiendishness, but I had to think of this, how to save 
you — I was concerned only about you — ” 

And his face plainly reflected that affliction which 
overflowed in his heart. Nell evidently understood 
this, as she pressed yet more closely to him, while he, 
momentarily mastering his emotions, continued thus: 

“T, of course, shall not change, and shall guard and 
watch over you as before. As long as they lived there 


204 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


was no hope of rescue. Now we may fly to Abyssinia. 
The Abyssinians are black and wild, but Christians and 
foes of the dervishes. If you only retain your health, we 
shall succeed, for it is not so very far to Abyssinia. And 
even though we do not succeed, though we fall into 
Smain’s hand, do not think that he will revenge himself 
upon us. He never in his life saw either Gebhr or the 
Bedouins; he knew only Chamis, but what was Chamis 
to him? Besides, we need not tell Smain that Chamis 
was with us. If we succeed in reaching Abyssinia, then 
we are saved, and if not, you will not fare any worse, but 
better, for tyrants worse than those men probably cannot 
be found in the world. Do not fear me, Nell.” 

And desiring to win her confidence and at the same time 
cheer her, he began to stroke her little yellow head. The 
little maid listened, raising timidly her eyes to him. 
Evidently she wanted to say something but hesitated 
and feared. Finally she leaned her head so that her hair 
entirely covered her face and asked in a yet lower and 
slightly quivering voice: 

fT 3 Stas eee 3) 

“What is it, dear?’”’ 

“They will not come here?”’ 

“Who?” Stas asked with amazement. 

“Those — killed.” 

“What are you talking about, Nell?” 

“T am afraid! I am afraid!” 

And her pallid lips began to quiver. 

Silence ensued. Stas did not believe that the slain 
could rise from the dead, but as it was night and their 
bodies lay not far away, he became depressed in spirit; a 
chill passed over his back. 

“What are you saying, Nell?’ he repeated. “Then 
Dinah taught you to fear ghosts —— The dead do not —” 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 205 


And he did not finish, for at that moment something 
awe-inspiring occurred. Amid the stillness of the night, 
in the depths of the ravine, from the direction in which the 
corpses lay suddenly resounded a kind of inhuman, fright- 
ful laughter in which quivered despair, and joy, and 
cruelty, and suffering, and pain, and sobbing, and deri- 
sion; the heart-rending and spasmodic laughter of the 
insane or condemned. 

Nell screamed, and with her whole strength embraced 
Stas with her arms. Stas’ hair stood on end. Saba 
started up suddenly and began to growl. 

But Kali, sitting at some distance, quietly raised his 
head and said almost gleefully: 

“Those are hyenas gloating over Gebhr and the lion —”’ 


II 


THE great events of the preceding day and the sensa- 
tions of the night so tired out Stas and Nell that when 
finally slumber overcame them they fell into a deep sleep, 
and the little girl did not appear outside the tent until 
about noon-time. Stas rose somewhat earlier from a 
saddle-cloth spread near the camp-fire, and in expectation 
of his little companion he ordered Kali to prepare a break- 
fast, which in view of the late hour was to form at the 
same time their dinner. 

The bright light of the day dispelled the terrors of the 
night; both awoke not only well rested, but refreshed 
in spirit. Nell looked better and felt stronger. As both 
wanted to ride away as far as possible from the place 
where the slain Sudd4nese were lying, immediately after 
the refreshments they mounted their horses and moved 
ahead. 

At that time of the day all travelers in Africa stop 
for the noon rest, and even caravans composed of negroes 
seek shelter under the shade of great trees; for they are 
the so-called white hours, hours of heat and silence, dur- 
ing which the sun broils unmercifully and, looking from 
above, seems to seek whom to slay. Every beast at such 
times burrows itself in the greatest thicket, the song of 
birds ceases, the buzz of insects stops, and all nature falls 
into silence, secreting itself as if desirous of guarding 
against the eye of a wicked divinity. But they rode on in 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 207 


the ravine in which one of the walls cast a deep shadow, 
enabling them to proceed without exposing themselves to 
the scorching heat. Stas did not want to leave the 
ravine, firstly, because, above, they might be espied from 
a distance by Smain’s detachments, and then it was 
easier to find, in rocky crevices, water, which in un- 
covered places soaked into the ground or under the in- 
fluence of the sun’s rays was transformed into steam. 

The road continuously but imperceptibly led upwards. 
On the rocky walls could be seen from time to time yellow 
traces of sulphur. The water in the clefts was saturated with 
its odor, which reminded both children unpleasantly of 
Omdurm4n and the Mahdists, who smeared their heads 
with fat mixed with sulphur powder. In some places 
muskcats could be smelt; but there, where from high, 
overhanging rocks magnificent cascades of lianas fell to 
the bottom of the ravine, came an intoxicating scent of 
vanilla. The little wanderers willingly stopped in the 
shade of these tapestries embroidered with purple flowers 
and lilies, which with the leaves provided food for the 
horses. 

Animals could not be seen; only from time to time on 
the crests of rocks monkeys squatted, resembling on the 
blue background those fantastic idols which in India 
adorn the borders of temples. Big males with long manes 
displayed their teeth at Saba or stretched out their jaws 
in sign of amazement and rage, and at the same time 
jumped about, blinking with their eyes and scratching 
their sides. But Saba, accustomed already to the sight of 
them, did not pay much heed to their menaces. 

They rode briskly. Joy at recovering liberty drove 
away from Stas’ breast that incubus which had throttled 
him during the night. His mind was now occupied with 
the thought of what was to be done farther; how to lead 


208 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


Nell and himself from a locality in which they were 
threatened by new captivity with the dervishes; what 
measures to adopt during the long journey through the 
wilderness in order not to die of hunger and thirst, and 
finally, whither to go? He knew already from Hatim 
that the Abyssinian boundary in a direct line from Fa- 
shoda was not more than five days’ journey, and he calcu- 
lated that this would be about one hundred English 
miles. Now from their departure from Fashoda almost 
two weeks had elapsed; so it was clear that they had not 
gone by the shortest route, but in seeking Smain must 
have turned considerably towards the south. He recol- 
lected that on the sixth day they crossed a river which 
was not the Nile, and that afterwards, before the country 
began to rise, they rode around great swamps. At school 
in Port Said, the geography of Africa was taught very 
thoroughly and in Stas’ memory remained the name of 
Ballor, designating an expansion of the little-known river 
Sobat, a tributary of the Nile. He was not indeed certain 
whether they had passed that expansion, but assumed that 
they had. It occurred to him that Smain, desiring to 
capture slaves, could not seek for them directly west of 
Fashoda, as that country was already entirely depopu- 
lated by dervishes and small-pox; but that he would 
have to go to localities which heretofore were not visited 
by an expedition. Stas deduced from this that they were 
following Smain’s trail, and the thought frightened him 
in the first moments. 

He therefore reflected whether it would not be better 
to abandon the ravine which turned more and more 
plainly towards the south and go directly eastward. 
But after a moment’s consideration he relinquished the 
plan. On the contrary, to follow the tracks of Smain’s 
band at two or three days’ distance appeared to him 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 209 


to be the safest course as it was very improbable that 
Smain would return with his human wares by way of 
the same circuitous route instead of making his way 
directly for the Nile. Stas understood also that Abys- 
sinia could be reached only from the southern side where 
that country borders on a great wilderness and not from 
the eastern boundary which was carefully guarded by 
dervishes. 

As a result of these thoughts he determined to venture 
as far as possible towards the south. They might en- 
counter negroes, either refugees from the banks of the 
White Nile or natives. But of the two evils Stas preferred 
to have dealings with the blacks rather than with Mahdists. 
He reckoned too that in the event of meeting refugees 
or natives Kali and Mea might prove useful. It was 
enough to glance at the young negress to surmise that 
she belonged to the Dinka or Shilluk tribe, for she had 
uncommonly long and thin limbs, so characteristic of 
both of those tribes, dwelling on the banks of the Nile 
and wading like cranes and storks, during its inundation. 
Kali, on the other hand, though under Gebhr’s hand he 
became like a skeleton, had an entirely different stature. 
He was short and thick and strongly built; he had power- 
ful shoulders and his feet in comparison with Mea’s feet 
were relatively small. 

As he did not speak Arabian at all and spoke poorly 
the Kiswahili language with which one can converse 
almost anywhere in Africa and which Stas had learned 
fairly well from the natives of Zanzibar, working on the 
Canal, it was evident that he came from some distant 
region. 

Stas determined to sound him upon this point. 

“Kali, what is the name of your people?” he asked. 

“Wahima,” answered the young negro. 


210 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


“Ts that a great nation?” 

“Great, which is making war upon the bad Samburus 
and takes their cattle.” 

“Ts that country like this?” 

“No. There are mountains and great water.” 

“ How is that water called?” 

“We call it ‘The Dark Water.’ ”’ 

Stas thought that the boy might come from the neigh- 
borhood of the Albert Nyanza, which up to that time 
had been in the hands of Emin Pasha; so, desiring to 
confirm this, he asked further: 

“Does not a white chief live there who has black smok- 
ing boats and troops?” 

“No, the old men with us say that they saw white men, 
(here Kali parted his fingers) one, two, three. Yes. There 
were three of them in long white dresses. They were 
looking for tusks. Kali did not see them for he was not 
in the world, but Kali’s father received them and gave 
them many cows.” 

“What is your father?” 

“The king of Wahima.”’ 

Stas was flattered a little by the idea that he had a 
Prince Royal for a servant. 

“Would you like to see your father?” 

“Kali wants to see his mother.” 

“What would you do if we met the Wahimas, and 
what would they do?” 

“The Wahimas would fall on their faces before Kali.” 

“Lead us to them; then you shall remain with them 
and rule after your father, and we will go farther to the 
sea.” 

“Kali cannot find the way to them, and cannot remain, 
for Kali loves the great master and the daughter of the 
moon. ” 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 211 


Stas turned merrily to his companion and said: 

“Nell, you have become the daughter of the moon.”’ 

But, glancing at her, he saddened suddenly, for it oc- 
curred to him that the emaciated girl actually ldoked 
with her pale and transparent countenance more like 
a lunar than an earthly being. 

The young negro became silent for a while; then he 
repeated: 

“Kali loves Bwana kubwa, for Bwana kubwa did. 
not kill Kali, only Gebhr, and gives Kali a great deal 
to eat.” 

And he began to stroke his breast, repeating with 
evident delight: 

“A great deal of meat! a great deal of meat 

Stas wanted to ascertain how Kali became the slave 
of the dervishes; it appeared that from the night when 
he was caught in a pit, dug for zebras, he had gone 
through so many hands that Stas could not tell from 
his statements what countries he had passed through 
and by what route he had been conducted to Fashoda. 
Stas was much impressed by what he said about the 
“dark water,” for if he came from the region of Albert 
Nyanza, Albert Edward Nyanza, or even Victoria Nyanza, 
near which lay the kingdoms of the Unyoro and the 
Uganda, he would undoubtedly have heard something 
about Emin Pasha, about his troops, and about the 
steamers, which aroused the wonder and fear of the 
negroes. Tanganyika was too far away; there remained 
only the supposition that Kali’s nation had its seat some- 
where nearer. For this reason their meeting with the 
Wahimas was not an utter improbability. 

After a few hours’ ride, the sun began to descend. The 
heat decreased considerably. They chanced upon a 
wide valley in which they found water and a score.or 


!?? 


212 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


more of wild fig trees. So they stopped to rest their 
horses and partake of provisions. As the rocky walls at 
that place were lower, Stas ordered Kali to climb to the 
top and ascertain whether smoke could not be seen in the 
vicinity. 

Kali complied with the order and in the twinkling of 
an eye reached the edge of the rocks. Peering around 
carefully in all directions he slid down a thick liana stalk 
and announced that there was no smoke, but that there 
were “niama.” It was easy to surmise that he was 
speaking not of guinea-fowl but of some bulkier game, 
for he pointed at Stas’ short rifle and afterwards put 
his fingers on his head to indicate horned game. 

Stas in turn climbed up and, leaning his head carefully 
over the edge, began to look ahead. Nothing obstructed 
his view of the expanse, as the old, high jungle was burnt 
away and the new, which had already sprouted from the 
blackened ground, was barely a few inches high. As far 
as the eye could reach could be seen sparsely growing 
great trees, with trunks singed by the fire. Under the 
shade of one of them grazed a flock of antelopes which 
from the shape of their bodies resembled horses, and 
from their heads buffaloes. The sun penetrating through 
the baobab leaves cast quivering bright spots upon their 
brown backs. There were ten of them. The distance was 
not more than one hundred paces, but the wind blew 
from the animals towards the ravine, so they grazed 
quietly, not suspecting any danger. Stas, desiring to 
replenish his supplies with meat, shot at the nearest one, 
which tumbled on the ground as if struck by lightning. 
The rest of the flock ran away, and with them a great 
buffalo, which he did not perceive before, as he lay hidden 
behind a stone. The boy, not from necessity, but from 
a sporting vein, choosing the moment when the animal 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 213 


turned his side somewhat, sent a bullet after him. The 
buffalo staggered greatly after the shot, drew in his 
haunches, but rushed away, and before Stas was able to 
reload disappeared in the unevenness of the ground. 

Before the smoke blew away, Kali sat upon the ante- 
lope and cut open its abdomen with Gebhr’s knife. Stas 
walked towards him, desiring to inspect more closely the 
animal, and great was his surprise when after a while the 
young negro with blood-stained hands handed to him 
the reeking liver of the antelope. 

“Why are you giving me that?” he asked. 

“Msuri, msuri! Bwana kubwa eat at once.” 

“Eat it yourself,’ replied Stas, indignant at the 
proposition. 

Kali did not allow this command to be repeated, but 
immediately began to tear the liver with his teeth, and 
greedily gulp down the raw pieces; seeing that Stas gazed 
at him with loathing he did not cease between one gulp 
and another to repeat: “Msuri! msuri!”’ 

In this manner he ate over half of the liver; after which 
he started to dress the antelope. He did this with un- 
common quickness and skill, so that soon the hide was 
flayed and the haunches were separated from the back- 
bone. Then Stas, somewhat surprised that Saba was not 
present at this work, whistled for him to come to a boun- 
teous feast of the fore parts of the animal. 

But Saba did not appear at all. Instead, Kali, who 
was bending over the antelope, raised his head and said: 

“The big dog ran after the buffalo.” 

“Did you see him?” Stas asked. 

“Kali saw.” 

Saying this, he placed the loin of the antelope on his 
head and the two haunches on his shoulders and started 
for the ravine. Stas whistled a few times more and 


214 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


waited, but seeing that he was doing this in vain, followed 
Kali. In the ravine Mea was already engaged in cutting 
the thorns for a zareba, while Nell, picking with her 
little fingers the last guinea-fowl, asked: 

“Did you whistle for Saba? He ran after you.” 

“He ran after a buffalo which I wounded with a shot, 
and I am worried,” Stas answered. “Those animals are 
terribly ferocious and so powerful that even a lion fears 
to attack them. Saba may fare badly if he begins a fight 
with such an adversary.” 

Hearing this Nell became alarmed and declared that 
she would not go to sleep until Saba returned. Stas, 
seeing her grief, was angry at himself because he had 
not concealed the danger from her and began to comfort 
her: 

“T would go after them with the rifle,” he said, “but 
they must now be very far away, and soon the night will 
fall and the tracks will be invisible. The buffalo is badly 
wounded, and I have a hope that he will fall. In any case 
he will weaken through loss of blood, and if he should 
rush at Saba, Saba will be able to run away. Yes! he 
may return during the night, but he surely will return.” 

Although he said this, he did not greatly believe his 
own words, for he remembered what he had read of the 
extraordinarily revengeful nature of the African buffalo, 
which, though heavily wounded, will run about in a cir- 
cuit and lie in ambush near a path over which the hunter 
goes and afterwards attack him unexpectedly, pin him on 
its horns, and toss him into the air. Something similar 
might happen to Saba; not to speak of other dangers 
which threatened him on the return to the camp during 
the night. 

In fact night soon fell. Kali and Mea put up a zareba, 
built a fire, and prepared supper. Saba did not return. 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 215 


Nell became more and more worried and finally began 
LO Cry. 

Stas with difficulty persuaded her to lie down, promis- 
ing her that he would wait for Saba, and as soon as the 
day should break, he himself would search for the dog 
and bring him back. Nell indeed entered the tent, but 
at intervals she put out her little head from under its 
folds, asking whether the dog had not returned. Sleep 
overcame her only after midnight, when Mea came out 
to relieve Kali, who watched the fire. 

“Why does the daughter of the moon weep?” the 
young negro asked Stas, when both lay down on the 
saddle-cloths. “Kali does not want that.” 

“She is sorry for Saba, whom the buffalo has surely 
killed.” 

“But perhaps he did not kill him,” replied the black boy. 

After this they became silent and Stas fell into a deep 
sleep. It was still dark, however, when he awoke, for the 
chill began to incommode him. The fire was partly extinct. 
Mea, who was to watch the fire, dozed and after a time 
had ceased throwing fuel upon the flames. 

The saddle-cloth on which Kali slept was unoccupied. 

Stas himself threw brushwood onto the fire, after which 
he shook the negress and asked: 

“Where is Kali?” 

For a time she stared at him unconsciously; afterwards 
coming to her senses, she said: 

“Kali took Gebhr’s sword and went beyond the zareba. 
I thought he wanted to cut more brushwood, but he did 
not return at all.” 

“Did he go long ago?” 

“ Long.” 

Stas waited for some time, but as the negro did not re- 
turn, he involuntarily propounded to himself the question: 


216 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


“Did he run away?” 

And his heart was oppressed by the disagreeable feel- 
ing which human ingratitude always arouses. Why! he 
had interceded for this Kali and defended him when 
Gebhr vented his rage upon him for whole days, and 
afterwards he had saved the slave’s life. Nell was always 
kind to him and had wept over his unhappy lot, and both 
treated him in the best possible manner. Now he ran away! 
He himself had said that he did not know in which direc- 
tion the Wahima settlements were situated, and though 
he would be unable to find them, he nevertheless ran 
away. Stas again recollected those “African Travels” 
in Port Said, and the narratives of travelers about the 
stupidity of negroes, who, throwing away packages, run 
away although in their escape they are threatened by 
inevitable death. In fact, Kali, having as his only 
weapon Gebhr’s Sudanese sword, must die of starvation, 
or if he did not fall again into the captivity of the der- 
vishes would become the prey of wild animals. 

Ah! Ingrate and fool! 

Stas then began to meditate over this; — how far more 
dificult and vexatious the journey without Kali would 
be for them, and how much heavier the work. To water 
the horses and fetter them for the night, to pitch the tent, 
build zarebas, watch during the journey that none of the 
supplies and packets with things were lost, to flay and 
dress the slain animals, all this for want of the young 
negro was to fall upon him and he admitted in his soul 
that as to some of these employments, flaying the hides 
of animals, for instance, he did not have the slightest 
knowledge. 

“Ha! it will be hard,” he said, “but necessary.” 

In the meantime the sun emerged from beyond the 
horizon and, as usually happens in the tropics, in a 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 217 


moment it was day. Somewhat later the water for bath- 
ing, which Mea had prepared during the night for the 
little lady, began to splash, which meant that Nell had 
risen and was dressing herself. In fact, she soon appeared, 
already dressed, with a comb in her hand and her hair 
still unkempt. 

“ And Saba?” she asked. 

“He has not come yet.” 

The lips of the little girl at once began to quiver. 

“He may yet return,” said Stas. “You remember that 
on the desert sometimes he was not seen for two days, 
and afterwards he always overtook us.” 

“You said that you would go and search for him.” 

“T cannot.” 

“Why; otas?”’ 

“T cannot leave you in the ravine alone with Mea.” 

“And Kali?” 

“ Kali is not here.” 

Stas was silent, not knowing whether to tell her the 
whole truth; but as the matter could not be concealed 
he thought it best to divulge it at once. 

“Kali took Gebhr’s sword,” he said, “and in the night 
went away; I do not know where. Who knows whether 
he has not run away? The negroes often do that, even 
to their own destruction. I am sorry for him — But he 
may understand that he has acted like a fool and — ” 

Further words were interrupted by Saba’s joyful bark- 
ing which filled the whole ravine. Nell threw the comb 
on the ground and wanted to rush out to meet him. She 
was prevented, however, by the thorns of the zareba. 

Stas, with the greatest haste, began to scatter them about, 
but before he had opened a passage Saba appeared and 
after him Kali, as shiny and wet from the dew as if after 
the greatest rain. 


218 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


Immense joy possessed both children, and when Kali, 
out of breath from fatigue, came inside the enclosure, 
Nell flung her white hands around his black neck and 
hugged him with all her strength. 

And he said: 

“Kali did not want to see the ‘bibi’ cry, so Kali found 
the dog.” 

“Good boy, Kali!”’ answered Stas, slapping him on the 
shoulders. “Did you not fear in the night that you 
would meet a lion or a panther?”’ 

“Kali feared, but Kali went,” answered the boy. 

These words gained still more the hearts of the chil- 
dren. Stas, at Nell’s request, took out from one of the 
small pieces of luggage a string of glass beads with which 
they had been provided by the Greek, Kaliopuli, on their 
departure from Omdurman; with it he decorated Kali’s 
splendid throat; while the latter, overjoyed with the gift, 
glanced at once with pride at Mea and said: 

“Mea has no beads and Kali has, for Kali is ‘the great 
world.’”’ 

In this manner was the devotion of the black boy re- 
warded. On the other hand Saba received a sharp rebuke, 
from which, for the second time in Nell’s service, he 
learned that he was perfectly horrid, and that if he once 
more did anything like that he would be led by a string 
like a puppy. He heard this, wagging his tail in quite an 
equivocal manner. Nell, however, claimed that it could 
be seen from his eyes that he was ashamed and that he 
certainly blushed; only this could not be seen because 
his mouth was covered with hair. 

After this followed breakfast, consisting of excellent 
wild figs and a rump of venison. During the breakfast 
Kali related his adventures, while Stas interpreted them 
in English for Nell who did not understand the Kis- 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 219 


wahili language. The buffalo, as it appeared, fled far. 
It was difficult for Kali to find the tracks as it was a moon- 
less night. Fortunately, rain had fallen two days before 
and the ground was not too hard; in consequence of this 
the heavy animal’s hoofs left deep imprints upon it. 
Kali sought them with the aid of his toes and walked a long 
distance. The buffalo finally fell and must have dropped 
dead as there was no sign of a fight between him and Saba. 
When Kali found them Saba already had devoured the 
greater part of the fore quarter of the buffalo, and although 
he was fully sated he would not permit the approach of 
two hyenas and about a dozen of jackals, which stood 
waiting until the more powerful rapacious creature 
finished his feast and left. The boy complained that the 
dog also growled at him, but he then threatened him with 
the anger of the “great master” and the “bibi,” after 
which he grabbed him by the collar and dragged him 
from the buffalo, and did not let go of him until they 
reached the ravine. 

With this ended the narrative of Kali’s nocturnal ad- 
ventures, after which all in good humor mounted their 
horses and proceeded on their journey. 

One alone, long-limbed Mea, though quiet and meek, 
gazed with envy at the young negro’s necklace and Saba’s 
collar, and with sorrow in her heart thought: 

“Both of them are ‘the great world,’ and I have only 
a brass ring on one leg.” 


If] 


Durine the following three days they rode continuously 
in the ravine and always upwards. The days were as a 
rule scorching, the nights alternately cool or sultry; 
the rainy season was approaching. From beyond the 
horizon here and there emerged clouds, white as milk 
but deep and heavy. At the sides could already be seen 
stripes of rain and distant rainbows. Towards the morn- 
ing of the third day one of these clouds burst above their 
heads like a barrel from which the hoops had flown off 
and sprinkled them with a warm and copious rain which 
fortunately was of brief duration. Afterwards the weather 
became fine and they could ride farther. Guinea-fowls 
again appeared in such numbers that Stas shot at them 
without dismounting from his horse, and in this manner 
got five, which more than sufficed for one meal, even 
counting Saba. Travel in the refreshed air was not bur- 
densome, and the abundance of game and water removed 
fears of hunger and thirst. On the whole everything 
passed more easily than they had anticipated. So then 
good humor did not desert Stas, and, riding beside the 
little girl, he chattered merrily with her and at times 
even joked. 

“Do you know, Nell,” he said, when for a while he 
stopped the horses under a great bread-fruit tree from 
which Kali and Mea cut off fruit resembling huge melons, 
“at times it seems to me that I am a knight-errant.” 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 221 


“And what is a knight-errant?” asked Nell, turning 
her pretty head towards him. 

“Long, long ago in the medieval days there were 
knights who rode over the world, looking for adventure. 
They fought with giants and dragons, and do you know 
that each one had his lady, whom he protected and 
defended?”’ 

“ And am I such a lady?” 

Stas pondered for a while, after which he replied: 

“No, you are too small. All those others were grown 
up.” 

And it never occurred to him that probably no knight- 
errant had ever performed as much for his lady as he had 
done for his little sister. Plainly it appeared to him that 
whatever he had done was done as a matter of course. 

But Nell felt aggrieved at his words; so with a pout 
she said: 

“And you once said in the desert that I acted like a 
person of thirteen. Aha!” 

“Well, that was once. But you are eight.” 

“Then after ten years I shall be eighteen.” 

“A great thing! AndI shall be twenty-four! At such 
age a man does not think of any ladies for he has some- 
thing else to do; that is self-evident.” 

“ And what will you do?” 

“T shall be an engineer or a sailor or, if there is a war 
in Poland, I shall go to fight, just as my father did.” 

While she asked uneasily: 

“But you will return to Port Said?”’ 

“We both must return there first.” 

“To papa!’’ the little girl replied. 

And her eyes were dimmed with sorrow and longing. 
Fortunately there flew at that moment a small flock of 
wonderfully fine parrots, gray, with rosy heads, and a 


222 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


rosy lining under their wings. The children at once for- 
got about their previous conversation and began to 
follow the flight with their eyes. 

The little flock circled about a group of euphorbias 
and lighted upon sycamores, growing at some distance, 
amidst the branches of which resounded voices similar 
to a wordy conference or a quarrel. 

“Those are parrots which are very easily taught to 
talk,” Stas said. “When we stop at a place for a 
length of time, I will try to catch one for you.” 

“Oh, Stas, thank you!” answered Nell gleefully. “I 
will call it Daisy.” 

In the meantime Mea and Kali, having cut off fruit 
from the bread-fruit tree, loaded the horses with it, 
and the little caravan proceeded. In the afternoon it 
began to cloud and at times brief showers occurred, 
filling the crevices and the depressions in the earth. Kali 
predicted a great downpour, so it occurred to Stas that 
the ravine, which was becoming narrower and narrower, 
would not be a safe shelter for the night, for it could change 
into a torrent. For this reason he determined to pass the 
night above, and this decision delighted Nell, particularly 
when Kali, who was sent to reconnoitre, returned and 
announced that not far away was a small grove composed 
of various trees, and in it many monkeys, not as ugly as 
the baboons which up to that time they had met. 

Chancing thereafter upon a place at which the rocky 
walls were low and sloped gradually, he led the horses 
out, and before it grew dark they built a barricade for 
the night. Nell’s tent stood on a high and dry spot close 
to a big white-ant hillock, which barred the access from 
one side and for that reason lessened the labor of building 
the zareba. 

Near-by stood a large tree with widely spread boughs 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 223 


which, covered by dense foliage, furnished shelter against 
rain. In front of the zareba grew single clumps of trees 
and further a thick forest entangled with climbing plants, 
beyond which loftily shot out crowns of strange palm 
trees resembling gigantic fans or outspread peacock tails. 

Stas learned from Kali that before the second rainy 
season, that is, in autumn, it was dangerous to pass the 
night under these palm trees, for the huge fruit, at that 
time ripe, breaks off unexpectedly and falls from a con- 
siderable distance with such force that it can kill a person 
or even a horse. At present, however, the fruit was in 
bud, and in the distance before the sun set there could 
be seen, under the crowns, agile little monkeys, which, 
leaping gaily, chased each other. 

Stas, with Kali, prepared a great supply of wood, suffi- 
cient for the whole night, and, as at times strong blasts of 
hot air broke out, they reinforced the zareba with pickets 
which the young negro whittled with Gebhr’s sword and 
stuck in the ground. This precaution was not at all 
superfluous, as a powerful whirlwind could scatter the 
thorny boughs with which the zareba was constructed 
and facilitate an attack by beasts of prey. 

However, immediately after sunset the wind ceased, 
and instead, the air became sultry and heavy. Through 
the rifts in the clouds the stars glittered here and there, 
but afterwards the night became so utterly dark that one 
could not see a step ahead. The little wanderers grouped 
about the fire, while their ears were assailed by the loud 
cries and shrieks of monkeys who in the adjacent forest 
created a veritable bedlam. This was accompanied by 
the whining of jackals and by various other voices in 
which could be recognized uneasiness and fright before 
something which under the cover of darkness threatened 
every living being in the wilderness. 


224 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


Suddenly the voices subsided for in the dusky depths 
resounded the groans of a lion. The horses, which were 
pastured at some distance on the young jungle, began to 
approach the fire, starting up suddenly on their fettered 
fore legs, while the hair on Saba, who usually was so brave, 
bristled, and with tail curled under him, he nestled close 
to the people, evidently seeking their protection. 

The groaning again resounded, as though it came from 
under the ground; deep, heavy, strained, as if the beast 
with difficulty drew it from its powerful lungs. It pro- 
ceeded lowly over the ground, alternately increased and 
subsided, passing at times into a hollow, prodigiously 
mournful moan. 

“Kali, throw fuel into the fire,” commanded Stas. 

The negro threw upon the camp-fire an armful of boughs 
so hastily that at first whole sheaves of sparks burst out, 
after which a high flame shot up. 

“Stas, the lion will not attack us, will he?”’ whispered 
Nell, pulling the boy by the sleeve. 

“No, he will not attack us. See how high the zareba 

is. 
And speaking thus, he actually believed that danger 
did not threaten them, but he was alarmed about the 
horses, which pressed more and more closely to the fence 
and might trample it down. 

In the meantime the groans changed into the pro- 
tracted, thunderous roar by which all living creatures are 
struck with terror, and the nerves of people, who do not 
know what fear is, shake, just as the window-panes rattle 
from distant cannonading. 

Stas cast a fleeting glance at Nell, and seeing her quiver- 
ing chin and moist eyes, said: 

“Do not fear; don’t cry.” 

And she answered as if with difficulty: 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 220 


199 


“T do not want to cry — only my eyes perspire — oh! 

The last ejaculation burst from her lips because at 
that moment from the direction of the forest thundered a 
second roar even stronger than the first for it was nearer. 
The horses began to push upon the zareba and were it 
not for the long and hard-as-steel thorns of the acacia 
branches, they would have demolished it. Saba growled 
and at the same time trembled like a leaf, while Kali 
began to repeat with a broken voice: 

“Master, two! two! two!” 

And the lions, aware of each other’s presence, did not 
cease roaring, and the horrible concert continued in the 
darkness incessantly, for when one beast became silent 
the other began again. Stas soon could not distinguish 
from where the sounds came, as the echoes repeated them 
in the ravine; rock sent them back to rock, they ascended 
and descended, filling the forest and the jungle, and 
the entire darkness with thunder and fear. 

To the boy one thing seemed certain, and that was that 
they approached nearer and nearer. Kali perceived 
likewise that the lions ran about the encampment making 
a smaller circle each moment, and that, prevented from 
making an attack only by the glare of the flames, they 
were expressing their dissatisfaction and fear by their 
roar. 

Evidently, however, he thought that danger threatened 
only the horses, as, spreading his fingers, he said: 

“The lions will kill one, two, not all! not all!” 

“Throw wood into the fire,” repeated Stas. 

A livelier flame burst forth; the roars suddenly ceased. 
But Kali, raising his head and gazing upwards, began to 
listen. 

“What is it?” Stas asked. 

“Rain,” replied the negro. 


226 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


Stas in turn listened. The branches of the tree mantled 
the tent and the whole zareba so that not a drop of rain 
fell upon the ground, but above could be heard the rustle 
of leaves. As the sultry air was not stirred by the slightest 
breeze, it was easy to surmise that it was the rain which 
began to murmur in the jungle. 

The rustle increased with each moment and after a 
time the children saw drops flowing from the leaves, 
similar in the luster of the fire to ruddy pearls. As Kali 
had forecast, a downpour began. The rustle changed into 
a roar. LEver-increasing drops fell, and finally through 
the dense foliage whole streams of water began to pene- 
trate. 

The camp-fire darkened. In vain Kali threw whole 
armfuls into it. On the surface the wet boughs smoked 
only, and below, the burning wood began to hiss and the 
flame, however much it was replenished, began to be 
extinguished. 

“When the downpour quenches the fire, the zareba will 
defend us,” Stas said to pacify Nell. 

After which he conducted the little girl into the tent 
and wrapped her in plaids, but he himself went out as 
quickly as possible as the briefly interrupted roars had 
broken out again. This time they sounded considerably 
nearer and as if they were gleeful. 

The downpour intensified with each moment. The 
rain pattered on the hard leaves and splashed. If the 
camp-fire had not been under the shelter of the boughs, 
it would have been quenched at once, but as it was there 
hovered over it mainly smoke, amid which narrow, blue 
little flames glittered. Kali gave up the task and did 
not add any more deadwood. Instead he flung a rope 
around the tree and with its aid climbed higher and 
higher on the trunk. 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 227 


“What are you doing?” Stas asked. 

“Kali climbs the tree.” 

“What for?” shouted the boy, indignant at the negro’s 
selfishness. 

Bright, dreadful flashes of lightning rent the darkness 
and Kali’s reply was drowned by a peal of thunder 
which shook heaven and the wilderness. Simultaneously 
a whirlwind broke out, tugged the boughs of the tree, 
swept away in the twinkling of an eye the camp-fire, 
seized the embers, still burning under the ashes, and car- 
ried them with sheaves of sparks into the jungle. 

Impenetrable darkness temporarily encompassed the 
camp. A terrible tropical storm raged on earth and in 
the sky. Thunder followed thunder, lightning, lightning. 
The gory zigzags of thunderbolts rent the sky, black as 
a pall. On the neighboring rocks appeared strange blue 
balls, which sometimes rolled along the ravine and 
then burst with a blinding light and broke out with 
a peal so terrible that it seemed as if the rocks would be 
reduced to powder from the shock. 

Afterwards darkness again followed. 

Stas became alarmed about Nell and went groping in 
the darkness to the tent. The tent, protected by the 
white-ant hillock and the giant tree-trunk, stood yet, but 
the first strong buffet of the whirlwind might pull out the 
ropes and carry it the Lord knows where. And the whirl- 
wind subsided, then broke out again with a fury, carrying 
waves of rain, and clouds of leaves, and branches broken 
off in the adjacent forest. Stas was beset with despair. 
He did not know whether to leave Nell in the tent or 
lead her out of it. In the first case she might get entangled 
in the ropes and be seized with the linen folds, and in the 
_other she would get a thorough drenching and also would 

be carried away, as Stas, though beyond comparison 


228 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


stronger, with the greatest difficulty could keep on his 
feet. 

The problem was solved by the whirlwind which a mo- 
ment later carried away the top of the tent. The linen 
walls now did not afford any shelter. Nothing else re- 
mained to do but to wait in the darkness in which the 
lions lurked, until the storm passed away. 

Stas conjectured that probably the lions had sought 
shelter from the tempest in the neighboring forest, but 
he was certain that after the storm they would return. 
The danger of the situation increased because the wind 
had totally swept away the zareba. 

Everything was threatened with destruction. The 
rifle could not avail for anything, nor could his energy. 
In the presence of the storm, thunderbolts, hurricane, 
rain, darkness, and the lions, which might be concealed 
but a few paces away, he felt disarmed and _ helpless. 
The linen walls tugged by the wind splashed them with 
water from all sides, so, enclosing Nell in his arms, he led 
her from the tent; after which both nestled close to the 
trunk of the tree, awaiting death or divine mercy. 

At this moment, between one blow of the wind and 
another, Kali’s voice reached them, barely audible amidst 
the splashing of the rain. 

“Great master! Up the tree! up the tree!” 

And simultaneously the end of a wet rope, lowered 
from above, touched the boy’s shoulder. 

“Tie the ‘bibi,’ and Kali will pull her up!” the negro 
continued to shout. 

Stas did not hesitate a moment. Wrapping Nell in a 
saddle-cloth in order that the rope should not cut her 
body, he tied a girdle around her; after which he lifted 
her and shouted: 

Paul” 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 229 


The first boughs of the tree were quite low so Nell’s 
aerial journey was brief. Kali soon seized her with his 
powerful arms and placed her between the trunk and a 
giant bough, where there was sufficient room for half a 
dozen of such diminutive beings. No wind could blow 
her away from there and in addition, even although 
water flowed all over the tree, the trunk, about fifteen 
feet thick, shielded her at least from new waves of rain 
borne obliquely by the wind. 

Having attended to the safety of the little “bibi,” the 
negro again lowered the rope for Stas, but he, like a cap- 
tain who is the last to leave a sinking ship, ordered Mea 
to go ahead of him. 

Kali did not at all need to pull her as in a moment she 
climbed the rope with skill and agility as if she were the 
full sister of a chimpanzee. For Stas it was considerably 
more difficult, but he was too well-trained an athlete not 
to overcome the weight of his own body together with 
the rifle and a score of cartridges with which he filled his 
pockets. 

In this manner all four found themselves in the tree. 
Stas was so accustomed to think of Nell in every situa- 
tion that now he was occupied, above all, in ascertaining 
whether she was not in danger of falling, whether she 
had sufficient room and whether she could lie down com- 
fortably. Satisfied in this respect, he began to wrack his 
brains as to how to protect her from the rain. But for this 
there was no help. It would have been easy to construct 
during the daytime some kind of roof over her head, but 
now they were enveloped in such darkness that they 
could not see each other at all. If the storm at last 
passed away and if they succeeded in starting the fire 
again, they might dry Nell’s dress! Stas, with despair, 
thought that the little girl, soaked to the skin, would un- 


230 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


doubtedly on the following day suffer from the first 
attack of fever. 

He feared that towards the morning, after the storm, 
it would be as cool as it was on the previous night. Thus 
far the wind was rather warm and the rain as though 
heated. Stas was surprised at its persistence as he knew 
that the more strongly a storm raged the shorter was its 
duration. 

After a long time the thunder abated and the buffets 
of the wind weakened, but the rain continued to fall, 
less copious, indeed, than before, but so heavy and thick 
that the leaves did not afford any protection against it. 
From below came the murmur of water as if the whole 
jungle were transformed into a lake. Stas thought that 
in the ravine certain death would have awaited them. 
Immense sorrow possessed him at the thought of what 
might have become of Saba, and he did not dare to speak 
of him to Nell. He, nevertheless, had a slight hope that 
the intelligent dog would find a safe haven among the 
rocks projecting above the ravine. There was not, how- 
ever, a possibility of going to him with any aid. 

They sat, therefore, one beside the other amid the ex- 
panding boughs, drenched and waiting for the day. After 
the lapse of a few more hours the air began to cool and 
the rain finally ceased. The water too flowed down the 
slope to a lower place as they could not hear a splash or 
a murmur. Stas had observed on the previous days that 
Kali understood how to stir up a fire with wet twigs, so 
it occurred to him to order the negro to descend and try 
whether he would not succeed this time. But at the mo- 
ment in which he turned to him something happened 
which froze the blood in the veins of all four. 

The deep silence of the night was rent suddenly by the 
squeaking of horses, horrible, shrill, full of pain, fears, and 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 231 


mortal dismay. Some mischief was afoot in the darkness; 
there resounded short rattlings in the throat, afterwards 
hollow groans, a snorting, a second squeak yet more 
penetrating, after which all was quiet. 

“Lions, great Master! Lions killing horses!” whis- 
pered Kali. 

There was something so horrible in this night attack, 
in the superior force of the monsters, and in the sudden 
slaughter of the defenseless animals that Stas for a time 
was struck with consternation, and forgot about the 
rifle. What, after all, would it have availed him to shoot 
in such darkness? Unless for this, that those midnight 
assassins, if the flash and report should frighten them, 
would abandon the horses already killed, and start after 
those which were scared away and had run from the camp 
as far as their fettered legs would permit them. 

Stas’ flesh began to creep at the thought of what would 
have happened if they had remained below. Nell, nes- 
tling close to him, shook as if she already were suffering 
the first attack of fever, but the tree at least protected 
them from an attack of lions. Kali plainly had saved 
their lives. 

It was, however, a horrible night — the most horrible 
in the entire journey. 

They sat like drenched birds on a twig, listening to 
what was happening below. And there for some time 
a deep silence continued, but soon came a peculiar sound 
as though of lapping, smacking of torn-off pieces of flesh, 
together with the horses’ heavy breathing and the groans 
of the monsters. 

The odor of the raw meat and blood reached up to the 
tree, as the lions feasted not farther than twenty paces 
from the zareba. 

And they feasted so long that in the end anger seized 


232 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


Stas. He seized the rifle and fired in the direction of the 
sounds. 

But he was answered only by a broken, irritated roar, 
after which resounded the cracking of bones, rattling in 
powerful jaws. In the depths glared the blue and red 
eyes of hyenas and jackals waiting for their turn. 

And thus the long hours of the night passed away. 


if 


THE sun finally rose and illuminated the jungle, groups 
of trees, and the forest. The lions had disappeared 
before the first ray began to gleam on the horizon. Stas 
commanded Kali to build a fire. Mea was ordered to 
take Nell’s clothes out of the ‘leather bag in which they 
were packed, to dry them, and to dress anew the little 
girl as soon as possible; while Stas himself, taking his 
rifle, proceeded to visit the camp and at the same time 
to view the devastation wrought by the storm and the 
two midnight assassins. 

Immediately beyond the zareba, of which only the 
pickets remained, lay the first horse almost half devoured; 
about a hundred paces farther the second, barely touched, 
and immediately behind him the third, disemboweled, 
and with crushed head. All presented a horrible sight; 
their eyes were open, full of settled terror, and their teeth 
were bared. The ground was trampled upon; in the de- 
pressions were whole puddles of blood. Stas was seized 
with such rage that at the moment he almost wished that 
the shaggy head of a marauder, sluggish after the noc- 
turnal feast, would emerge from some cluster of trees 
that he might put a bullet in him. But he had to post- 
pone his revenge to a later time for at present he had 
something else to do. It was necessary to find and cap- 
ture the remaining horses. The boy assumed that they 
must have sought shelter in the forest, and that the same 


234 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


was true of Saba, whose body was nowhere to be seen. 
The hope that the faithful companion in misfortune had 
not fallen a victim to the predaceous beasts pleased Stas 
so much that he gained more courage. His happiness 
was yet augmented by the discovery of the donkey. It 
appeared that the sagacious, long-eared creature did not 
wish to fatigue himself by a too distant flight. He had 
ensconced himself outside of the zareba in a corner formed 
by the white-ant hillock and the tree and there, having 
his head and sides protected, had awaited developments, 
prepared in an emergency to repel an attack by kicking 
heroically with his heels. But the lions, apparently, did 
not perceive him at all, so when the sun rose and danger 
passed away he deemed it proper to lie down and rest after 
the dramatic sensations of the night. 

Stas, strolling about the camp, finally discovered upon 
the softened ground the imprint of horses’ hoofs. The 
tracks led in the direction of the forest and afterwards 
turned towards the ravine. This was a favorable cir- 
cumstance for the capture of the horses in the ravine did 
not present any great difficulties. Between ten and 
twenty paces farther he found in the grass the fetters 
which one of the horses had broken in his escape. This 
one must have run away so far that for the time being 
he must be regarded as lost. On the other hand, the 
two espied by Stas were behind a low rock, not in the 
hollow itself, but on the brink. One of them was rolling 
about, while the other was cropping the new light-green 
grass. Both looked unusually exhausted, as if after a 
long journey. But the daylight had banished fear from 
their hearts, so they greeted Stas with a short, friendly 
neigh. The horse which was rolling about started to his 
feet. The boy observed that this one also had freed him- 
self from his fetters, but fortunately he apparently pre- 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 235 


ferred to remain with his companion instead of running 
away wherever his eyes should lead him. 

Stas left both horses near the rock and went to the 
brink of the ravine to ascertain whether a farther journey 
by way of it was feasible. And he saw that owing to the 
great declivity the water had flowed away and the bottom 
was almost dry. 

After a while his attention was attracted to a white 
object entangled in the climbing plants in the recess of 
the opposite rocky wall. It appeared that it was the top 
of the tent which the wind had carried as far as that and 
driven into the thicket so that the water could not carry 
it away. The tent, at any rate, assured Nell of a better 
protection than a hut hurriedly constructed of boughs; 
so its recovery greatly delighted Stas. 

But his joy increased still more when from a lower recess 
partly hidden by lianas Saba sprang out, holding in his 
teeth some kind of animal whose head and tail hung from 
his jaws. The powerful dog, in the twinkling of an eye, 
reached the top, and laid at Stas’ feet a striped hyena 
with broken back and gnawed foot. After which he 
began to wag his tail and bark joyfully as if he wanted 
to say: 

“T admit that I behaved like a coward before the lions, 
but to tell the truth, you sat perched on the tree like 
guinea-fowls. Look, however! I did not waste the night 
altogether.” 

And he was so proud of himself that Stas was barely 
able to induce him to leave the bad-smelling animal on 
the spot and not to carry it as a gift to Nell. 

When they both returned a good fire was burning in 
the camp; water was bubbling in the utensils in which 
boiled durra grain, two guinea-fowls, and smoked strips 
of venison. Nell was already attired in a dry dress but 


236 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


looked so wretched and pale that Stas became alarmed 
about her, and, taking her hand to ascertain whether she 
had a fever, asked: 

“Nell, what ails you?” 

“Nothing, Stas; only I do want to sleep so much.” 

“T believe you! After such a night! Thank God, your 
hands are cool. Ah, what a night it was! No wonder 
you want to sleep. Ido also. But don’t you feel sick?” 

“My head aches a little.” 

Stas placed his palm on her head. Her little head was 
as cold as her hands; this, however, only proved great 
exhaustion and weakness, so the boy sighed and said: 

“Eat something warm and immediately afterwards 
lie down to sleep and you will sleep until the evening. 
To-day, at least, the weather is fine and it will not be 
as it was yesterday.” 

And Nell glaneed at him with fear. 

“But we will not pass the night here.” 

“No, not here, for there lie the gnawed remains of the 
horses; we will select some other tree, or will go to the 
ravine and there will build a zareba such as the world 
has not seen. You will sleep as peacefully as in Port 
Said.” 

But she folded her little hands and began to beg him 
with tears that they should ride farther, as in that horrible 
place she would not be able to close her eyes and surely 
would become ill. And in this way she begged him, in 
this way she repeated, gazing into his eyes, “ What, 
Stas? — Well?” so that he agreed to everything. 

“Then we shall ride by way of the ravine,” he said, 
“for there is shade there. Only promise me that if you 
feel weak or sick, you will tell me.” 

“T am strong enough. Tie me to the saddle and I will 
sleep easily on the road.” 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 237 


“No. I shall place you on my horse and I shall hold 
you. Kali and Mea will ride on the other and the donkey 
will carry the tent and things.” 

“Very well! very well!” 

“Immediately after breakfast you must take a nap. 
We cannot start anyway before noon. It is necessary to 
catch the horses, to fold the tent, to rearrange the packs. 
Part of the things we shall leave here for now we have 
but two horses altogether. This will require a few hours 
and in the meantime you will sleep and refresh yourself. 
To-day will be hot, but shade will not be lacking under 
the tree.” 

“And you — and Mea and Kali? I am so sorry that 
I alone shall sleep while you will be tiring yourselves —”’ 

“On the contrary, we shall have time to nap. Don’t 
worry about me. In Port Said during examination time 
I often did not sleep whole nights; of which my father 
knew nothing. My classmates also did not sleep. But 
a man is not a little fly like you. You have no idea how 
you look to-day — just like glass. There remain only 
eyes and tufts of hair; there is no face at all.” 

He said this jestingly, but in his soul he feared, as by 
the strong daylight Nell plainly had a sickly countenance 
and for the first time he clearly understood that if it 
continued thus the poor child not only might, but must, 
die. At this thought his legs trembled for he suddenly 
felt that in case of her death he would not have anything 
to live for, or a reason for returning to Port Said. 

“For what would I then have to do?” he thought. 

For a while he turned away in order that Nell might 
not observe the grief and fear in his eyes, and afterwards 
went to the things deposited under the tree. He threw 
aside the saddle-cloth with which the cartridge box was 
covered, opened it, and began to search for something. 


238 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 
He had hidden there in a small glass bottle the last of 


the quinine powders and had guarded it like an “eye 
in the head”’ for “the black hour,” that is, for the emer- 
gency when Nell should be fever-stricken. But now he 
was almost certain that after such a night the first attack 
would come, so he determined to prevent it. He did 
this with a heavy heart, thinking of what would happen 
later, and were it not that it did not become a man and 
the leader of a caravan to weep, he would have burst 
into tears over this last powder. 

So, desiring to conceal his emotion, he assumed a very 
stern mien and, addressing the little girl, said: 

“Nell, before you eat, take the rest of the quinine.” 

She, on the other hand, asked: 

“But if you catch the fever?” 

“Then I will shiver. Take it, I tell you.” 

She took it without further resistance, for from the 
time he killed the Sudanese she feared him a little, not- 
withstanding all his efforts for her comfort and the kind- 
ness he evinced towards her. Afterwards they sat down 
to breakfast, and after the fatigue of the night, the hot 
broth of guinea-fowl tasted delicious. Nell fell asleep 
immediately after the refreshment and slept for several 
hours. Stas, Kali, and Mea during that time put the 
caravan in order. They brought from the ravine the 
top of the tent, saddled the horses, and put the packages 
on the donkey and buried under the roots of the tree 
those things which they could not take with them. Drow- 
siness terribly assailed them at the work, and Stas, from 
fear that they should fall asleep, permitted himself and 
them to take short naps in turn. 

It was perhaps two o’clock when they started on their 
further journey. Stas held Nell before him; Kali rode 
with Mea on the other horse. They did not ride at once 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 239 


down the ravine, but proceeded between its brink and 
the forest. The young jungle had grown considerably 
during the rainy night; the soil under it, however, 
was black and bore traces of fire. It was easy to surmise 
that Smain had passed that way with his division, or that 
the fire driven from far by a strong gale had swept over 
the dry jungle and, finally encountering a damp forest, 
had passed on by a not very wide track between it and 
the ravine. Stas wanted to ascertain whether traces of 
Smain’s camp or imprints of hoofs could not be found 
on this track; and with pleasure he became convinced 
that nothing resembling them could be seen. Kali, who 
was well versed in such matters, claimed positively that 
the fire must have been borne by the wind and that since 
that time at least a fortnight must have elapsed. 

“This proves,” observed Stas, “that Smain, with his 
Mahdists, is already the Lord knows where, and in no 
case shall we fall into his hands.” 

Afterwards he and Nell began to gaze curiously at the 
vegetation, as thus far they had not ridden so close to a 
tropical forest. They rode now along its very edge in 
order to have the shade over their heads. The soil here 
was moist and soft, overgrown with dark-green grass, 
moss, and ferns. Here and there lay decomposed trunks, 
covered as though with a carpet of most beautiful orchids, 
with flowers brightly colored like butterflies and brightly 
colored cups in the center of the crown. Wherever the 
sun reached, the ground was gilded by other odd orchids, 
small and yellow, in which two petals protruding on 
the sides of a third petal created a resemblance to the 
head of a little animal with big ears ending abruptly. 
In some places the forest was lined with bushes of wild 
jasmine draped in garlands with thin, climbing plants, 
blooming rose-colored. The shallow hollows and de- 


240 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


pressions were overgrown with ferns, compressed into 
one impenetrable thicket, here low and expansive, there 
high, entwined with climbing plants, as though distaffs, 
reaching up to the first boughs of the trees and spreading 
under them in delicate green lace. In the depths there 
was a great variety of trees; date, raffia, fan-palm, syca- 
more, bread-fruit, euphorbia, immense varieties of senna, 
acacia; trees with foliage dark and glittering and light 
or red as blood grew side by side, trunk by trunk, with 
entangled branches from which shot yellow and purple 
flowers resembling candlesticks. In some groups the 
tree-tops could not be seen as the climbing plants covered 
them from top to bottom, and leaping from trunk to trunk 
formed the letters W and M and hung in form of fes- 
toons, portiéres, and whole curtains. Caoutchouc lianas 
just strangled the trees with thousands of serpentine 
tendrils and transformed them into pyramids, buried 
with white flowers like snow. About the greater lianas the 
smaller entwined and the medley became so thick that 
it formed a wall through which neither man nor animal 
could penetrate. Only in places where the elephants, 
whose strength nothing can resist, forced their way, 
were there beaten down in the thicket deep and winding 
passageways, as it were. 

The song of birds which so pleasantly enlivens the 
European forest could not be heard at all; instead, on 
the tree-tops resounded the strangest calls, similar to the 
sound of a saw, to the beating of a drum, to the clatter of 
a stork, to the squeaking of old doors, to the clapping of 
hands, to caterwauling, or even to the loud, excited talk 
of men. From time to time soared above the trees flocks 
of parrots, gray, green, white, or a small bevy of gaudily 
plumaged toucans in a quiet, wavy flight. On the snowy 
background of the rubber climbing plants glimmered like 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 241 


sylvan sprites, little monkey-mourners, entirely black with 
the exception of white tails, a white girdle on the sides, 
and white whiskers enveloping faces of the hue of coal. 

The children gazed with admiration at this virgin 
forest which the eyes of a white man perhaps had never 
beheld. Saba every little while plunged into the thicket 
from which came his happy barks. The quinine, break- 
fast, and sleep had revived little Nell. Her face was 
animated and assumed bright colors, her eyes sparkled. 
Every moment she asked Stas the names of various trees. 
and birds and he answered as well as he could. Finally 
she announced that she wanted to dismount from the 
horse and pluck a bunch of flowers. 

But the boy smiled and said: 

“The siafu would eat you at once.” 

“What is a siafu? Is it worse than a lion?” 

“Worse and not worse. They are ants which bite 
terribly. There are a great many of them on the branches 
from which they fall on people’s backs like a rain of fire. 
But they also walk on the ground. Dismount from the 
horse and try merely to walk a little in the forest and at 
once you will begin to jump and whine like a monkey. 
It is easier to defend one’s self against a lion. At times 
they move in immense ranks and then everything gives 
way to them.” 

“And would you be able to cope with them?” 

“T? Of course. With the help of fire or boiling water.” 

“You always know how to take care of yourself,” she 
said with deep conviction. 

These words flattered Stas greatly; so he replied con- 
ceitedly and at the same time merrily: 

“Tf you were only well, then as to the rest depend 
upon me.” 

“My head does not even ache now.” 


242 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


“Thank God! Thank God!” 

Speaking thus they passed the forest, but one flank 
of which reached the hollow way. The sun was still 
high in the heaven and broiled intensely, as the weather 
cleared and in the sky not a cloud could be seen. The 
horses were covered with sweat and Nell began to com- 
plain of the heat. For this reason Stas, having selected 
a suitable place, turned to the ravine in which the western 
wall cast adeep shadow. It was cool there, and the water 
remaining in the depressions after the downpour was also 
comparatively cool. Over the little travelers’ heads 
continually flew from one brink of the ravine to the other 
toucans with purple heads, blue breasts and yellow wings; 
so the boy began to tell Nell what he knew from books 
about their habits. 

“Do you know,” he said, “there are certain toucans 
which during the breeding season seek hollows in trees; 
there the female lays eggs and sits upon them, while the 
male pastes the opening with clay so that only her head 
is visible, and not until the young are hatched does the 
male begin to peck with his long beak and free the mother.” 

“And what does she eat during that time?”’ 

“The male feeds her. He continually flies about and 
brings her all kind of berries.” 

“And does he permit her to sleep?” she asked in a 
sleepy voice. Stas smiled. 

“Tf Mrs. Toucan has the same desire that you have at 
this moment, then he permits her.” 

In fact, in the cold ravine an unconquerable drowsiness 
oppressed the little girl, as from morning until early in 
the afternoon she had rested but little. Stas had a sincere 
desire to follow her example, but could not as he had 
to hold her, fearing that she might fall; besides, it was 
immensely uncomfortable for him to sit man-fashion on 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 243 


the flat and wide saddle which Hatim and Seki Tamala 
had provided for the little one in Fashoda. He did not 
dare to move and rode the horse as slowly as possible in 
order not to awaken her. 

She, in the meantime, leaning backwards, supported 
her little head upon his shoulder and slept soundly. 

But she breathed so regularly and calmly that Stas 
ceased to regret the last quinine powder. He felt that 
danger of fever was removed and commenced to reason 
thus: 

“The ravine continually leads upwards and even now 
is quite steep. Weare higher and the country is drier and 
drier. It is necessary only to find some sort of elevation, 
well shaded, near some swift stream, and there establish 
quarters and give the little one a few weeks’ rest, and 
perhaps wait through the whole massica (the spring 
rainy season). Not every girl could endure even one 
tenth of these hardships, but it is necessary that she should 
rest! After such a night another girl would have been 
stricken with fever and she — how soundly she sleeps! — 
Thank God!” 

And these thoughts brought him into a good humor; 
so looking down at Nell’s little head resting on his bosom, 
he said to himself merrily and at the same time with 
certain surprise: 

“Tt is odd, however, how fond I am of this little fly! 
To tell the truth, I always liked her, but now more and 
more.” 

And not knowing how to explain such a strange symptom 
he came to the following conclusion: 

“Tt is because we have passed together through so 
much and because she is under my protection.” 

In the meantime he held that “fly” very carefully 
with his right hand around her waist in order that she 


244 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


should not slip from the saddle and bruise her little nose. 
They advanced slowly in silence; only Kali hummed 
under his nose — a song in praise of Stas. 

“Great master kills Gebhr, kills a lion and a buffalo! 
Yah! Yah! Much meat! Much meat! Yah! Yah!” 

“Kali,” Stas asked in a low tone, “do the Wahimas 
hunt lions?”’ 

“The Wahimas fear lions but the Wahimas dig pits and 
if in the night time the lion falls in, then the Wahimas 
laugh.” 

“What do you then do?” 

“The Wahimas hurl lot of spears until lion is like a 
hedgehog. Then they pull him out of the pit and eat 
him. Lion is good.” And according to his habit, he 
stroked his stomach. 

Stas did not like this method of hunting; so he began 
to ask what other game there was in the Wahima country 
and they conversed further about antelopes, ostriches, 
giraffes, and rhinoceroses until the roar of a waterfall 
reached them. 

“What is that?” Stas exclaimed. “Are there a river and 
waterfall ahead of us?” 

Kali nodded his head in sign that obviously such was 
the fact. 

And for some time they rode more quickly, listening 
to the roar which each moment became more and more 
distinct. 

“A waterfall!” repeated Stas, whose curiosity was 
aroused. : 

But they had barely passed one or two bends when 
their way was barred by an impassable obstruction. 

Nell, whom the motion of the horse had lulled to sleep, 
awoke at once. 

“Are we already stopping for the night?”’ she asked. 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 245 


“No, but look! A rock closes the ravine.” 

“Then what shall we do?” 

“Tt is impossible to slip beside it for it is too close 
there; so it will be necessary that we turn back a little, 
get on top, and ride around the obstruction; but it is yet 
two hours to night; therefore we have plenty of time. Let 
us rest the horses a little. Do you hear the waterfall?”’ 

sas | do.’ 

“We will stop near it for the night.” 

After which he turned to Kali, ordered him to climb 
to the brink of the ridge and see whether, beyond, the 
ravine was not filled with similar obstructions; he him- 
self began to examine the rock carefully, and after a 
while he exclaimed: 

“Tt broke off and tumbled down not long ago. Nell, do 
you see that fragment? Look how fresh it is. There is 
no moss on it, nor vegetation. I already understand, 
I understand!” 

And with his hand he pointed at a baobab tree growing 
on the brink of the ravine whose huge roots hung over 
the wall and were parallel with the fragment. 

“That root grew in a crevice between the wall and 
the rock, and growing stronger, it finally split the rock. 
That is a singular matter for stone is harder than wood; 
I know, however, that in mountains this often happens. 
After that anything can shake such a stone which barely 
keeps its place, and the stone falls off.”’ 

“But what could shake it?” 

“Tt is hard to say. Maybe some former storm, per- 
haps yesterday’s.” 

At this moment Saba, who previously had remained 
behind the caravan, came running up; he suddenly stood 
still as if pulled from behind by the tail, scented; after- 
wards squeezed into the narrow passage between the wall 


246 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


and the detached rock, but immediately began to retreat 
with bristling hair. | 

Stas dismounted from the horse to see what could 
have scared the dog. 

“Stas, don’t go there,” Nell begged; “a lion might 
be there.” 

The boy, who was something of a swashbuckler and 
who from the previous day had taken extraordinary 
offense at lions, replied: 

“A great thing. A lion in daylight!” 

However, before he approached the passageway, Kali’s 
voice resounded from above: 

“Bwana kubwa! Bwana kubwa!” 

“What is it?” Stas asked. 

The negro slid down the stalk of the climbing plant 
in the twinkling of an eye. From his face it was easy to 
perceive that he brought some important news. 

“ An elephant!” he shouted. 

“An elephant?” 

“Yes,” answered the young negro, waving his hands; 
“there thundering water, here a rock. The elephant 
cannot get out. Great master kill the elephant and Kali 
will eat him. Oh, eat, eat!” 

And at this thought he was possessed by such joy 
that he began to leap, slapping his knees with his palms 
and laughing as if insane, in addition rolling his eyes and 
displaying his white teeth. 

Stas at first did not understand why Kali said that 
the elephant could not get out of the ravine. So, desiring 
to see what had happened, he mounted his horse and 
entrusting Nell to Mea in order to have his hands free 
in an emergency, he ordered Kali to sit behind him; after 
which they all turned back and began to seek a place 
by which they could reach the top. On the way Stas 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 247 


questioned him how the elephant got into such a place 
and from Kali’s replies he ascertained more or less what 
had happened. 

The elephant evidently ran before the fire by way of 
the ravine during the burning of the jungle; on the way 
he forcibly bumped against a loosened rock, which tumbled 
down and cut off his retreat. After that, having reached 
the end of the hollow, he found himself on the edge of a 
precipice below which a river ran, and in this manner was 
imprisoned. 

After a while they discovered an outlet but so steep 
that it was necessary to dismount from the horses and 
lead them after. As the negro assured them that the 
river was very near they proceeded on foot. They finally 
reached a promontory, bounded on one side by a river, on 
the other by the hollow, and glancing downward they 
beheld on the bottom of a dell an elephant. 

The huge beast was lying on its stomach and to Stas’ 
great surprise did not start up at the sight of them. Only 
when Saba came running to the brink of the dell and 
began to bark furiously did he for a moment move his 
enormous ears and raise his trunk, but he dropped it at 
once. 

The children, holding hands, gazed long at him in 
silence, which finally was broken by Kali. 

“He is dying of hunger,” he exclaimed. 

The elephant was really so emaciated that his spine 
protruded, his sides were shrunken, his ribs were distinctly 
outlined notwithstanding the thickness of his hide, and 
it was easy to conjecture that he did not rise because 
he did not now have sufficient strength. 

The ravine, which was quite wide at its opening, changed 
into a dell, locked in on two sides by perpendicular, rocks, 
and on its bottom a few trees grew. These trees were 


248 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


broken; their bark was peeled and on the branches there 
was not a leaf. The climbing plants hanging from the 
rocks were torn to pieces and gnawed, and the grass in 
the dell was cropped to the last blade. 

Stas, examining the situation thoroughly, began to 
share his observations with Nell, but being impressed with 
the inevitable death of the huge beast he spoke in a low 
tone as if he feared to disturb the last moments of its life. 

“Yes, he really is dying of starvation. He certainly has 
been confined here at least two weeks, that is, from the 
time when the old jungle was burnt. He ate everything 
that there was to eat and now is enduring torments; 
particularly as, here above, bread-fruit trees and acacias 
with great pods are growing, and he sees them but cannot 
reach them.” 

And for a while they again gazed in silence. ‘The 
elephant from time to time turned towards them his 
small, languid eyes and something in the nature of a 
gurgle escaped from his throat. 

“Indeed,” the boy declared, “it is best to cut short 
his pangs.” 

Saying this, he raised the rifle to his face, but Nell 
clutched his jacket and, braced upon both of her little 
feet, began to pull him with all her strength away from 
the brink of the hollow. 

“Stas! Don’t do that! Stas, let us give him something 
to eat! He is so wretched! I don’t want you to kill 
him! I don’t want it! I don’t!” 

And stamping with her little feet, she did not cease 
pulling him, and he looked at her with great astonishment 
and, seeing her eyes filled with tears, said: 

“But, Nell! —” 

“T don’t want it. I won’t let him be killed! I shall 
get the fever if you kill him.” 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 249 


For Stas this threat was sufficient to make him forego 
his murderous design in regard to the elephant before 
them and in regard to anything else in the world. For 
a time he was silent, not knowing what reply to make to 
the little one, after which he said: 

“Very well! very well! I tell you it is all right! Nell, 
let go of me!” 

And Nell at once hugged him and through her tear- 
dimmed eyes a smile gleamed. Now she was concerned only 
about giving the elephant something to eat as quickly 
as possible. Kali and Mea were greatly astonished when 
they learned that the Bwana kubwa not only would 
not kil the elephant, but that they were to pluck at once 
as many melons from the bread-fruit trees, as many 
acacia pods, and as much of all kinds of weeds as they 
were able. Gebhr’s two-edged Suddnese sword was of 
great use to Kali at this labor, and were it not for that 
the work would not have proceeded so easily. Nell, how- 
ever, did not want to wait for its completion and when 
the first melon fell from the tree she seized it with both 
her hands and, carrying it to the ravine, she repeated 
rapidly as if from fear that some one else might want 
to supplant her: 

Up ae 8 a th Fa 

But Stas did not in the least think of depriving her 
of this pleasure, but from fear that through too much 
zeal she might fall over with the melon, he seized her by 
the belt and shouted: 

“Throw!” 

The huge fruit rolled over the steep declivity and fell 
close to the elephant’s feet, while the latter in the twink- 
ling of an eye stretched out his trunk and seized it; after- 
wards he bent his trunk as if he wanted to place the melon 
under his throat and this much the children saw of him. 


250 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


“He ate it!” exclaimed the happy girl. 

“T suppose so,” answered Stas, laughing. 

And the elephant stretched out his trunk towards 
them as if he wanted to beg for more and emitted in a 
powerful tone: 

“Hruumf!”’ 

“He wants more!” 

“T suppose so!”’ repeated Stas. 

The second melon followed in the track of the first 
and in the same manner afterwards disappeared in a 
moment a third, fourth, tenth; later acacia pods and 
whole bundles of grass and great leaves began to fly 
down. Nell did not allow any one to take her place, 
and when her little hands grew tired from the work, she 
shoved new supplies with her little feet; while the ele- 
phant ate and, raising his trunk, from time to time trum- 
peted his thunderous “hruumf” as a sign that he wanted 
to eat still more, but Nell claimed that it was a sign of 
gratitude. 

But Kali and Mea finally were fatigued with the work 
which they performed with great alacrity under the 
impression that Bwana kubwa wanted first to fatten 
the elephant and afterwards to kill him. At last, how- 
ever, Bwana kubwa ordered them to stop, as the 
sun was setting and it was time to start the construc- 
tion of the zareba. Fortunately this was not a difficult 
matter, for two sides of the triangular promontory 
were utterly inaccessible, so that it was necessary only to 
fence in the third. Acacias with big thorns also were 
not lacking. 

Nell did not retire a step from the ravine and, squatting 
upon its brink, announced from a distance to Stas what 
the elephant was doing. At frequent intervals her thin 
little voice resounded: 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 251 


“He is searching about with his trunk!” 

Or: “He is moving his ears. What big ears he has!” 

“Stas! Stas! He is getting up! Oh!” 

Stas approached hurriedly and seized Nell’s hand. 

The elephant actually rose, and now the children could 
observe his immense size. They had previously seen 
huge elephants which were carried on vessels through 
the Suez Canal bound from India to Europe, but not 
one of them could compare with this colossus, who actually 
looked lke a huge slate-colored rock walking on four feet. 
He differed from the others in the size of his tusks which 
reached five or more feet and, as Nell already observed, 
his ears, which were of fabulous proportions. His fore 
legs were high but comparatively thin, which was un- 
doubtedly due to the fast of many days. 

“Oh, that is a Lilliputian!” laughed Stas. “If he 
should rear himself and stretch out his trunk, he might 
catch you by the feet.” 

But the colossus did not think of rearing or catching 
any one by the feet. With an unsteady gait he approached 
the egress of the ravine, gazed for a while over the preci- 
pice, at the bottom of which water was seething; after- 
wards he turned to the wall close to the waterfall, directed 
his trunk towards it, and, having immersed it as best he 
could, began to drink. 

“Tt is his good fortune,” Stas said, “that he can reach 
the water with his trunk. Otherwise he would have died.” 

The elephant drank so long that finally the little girl 
became alarmed. 

“Stas, won’t he harm himself?” she asked. 

“T don’t know,” he replied, laughing, “but since you 
have taken him under your care, warn him now.” 

So Nell leaned over the edge and cried: 

“Enough, dear elephant, enough!” 


252 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


And the dear elephant, as if he understood what was 
the matter, stopped drinking at once, and instead, began 
to splash water over himself. First he splashed water 
on his feet, then on his back, and afterwards on both sides. 

But in the meantime it grew dark; so Stas conducted 
the little girl to the zareba where supper already awaited 
them. 

Both were in excellent humor — Nell because she had 
saved the elephant’s life and Stas because he saw her 
eyes sparkling like two stars and her gladdened face 
which was ruddier and healthier than it had been at any 
time since their departure from Khartfim. A promise 
of a quiet and perfect night also conduced to the boy’s 
contentment. The two inaccessible sides of the promon- 
tory absolutely secured them from attacks from those 
directions, and on the third side Kali and Mea reared so 
high a wall of thorny branches of acacias and of passion 
flowers that there could be no thought of any predacious 
beasts being able to surmount such a barrier. In addition 
the weather was fine and the heavens immediately after 
sunset were studded with countless stars. The air, which 
was cool, owing to the proximity of the waterfall, and 
which was saturated with the odor of the jungle and 
newly broken branches, was agreeable to breathe. 

“This fly will not get the fever here,’ Stas thought 
joyfully. 

Afterwards they commenced to converse about the 
elephant, as Nell was incapable of talking of anything 
else and did not cease going into transports over his 
stature, trunk, and tusks, which in reality were prodig- 
ious. Finally she asked: 

“Honestly, Stas, isn’t he wise?” 

“As Solomon,” answered Stas. “But what makes 
you think so?” 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 253 


“Because when I asked him not to drink any more, 
he obeyed me at once.” 

“Tf before that time he had not taken any lessons in 
English and nevertheless understands it, that really is 
miraculous.” 

Nell perceived that Stas was making merry with her, 
so she gave him a scolding; after which she said: 

“Say what you wish, but I am sure that he is very 
intelligent and will become tame at once.” 

“Whether at once I don’t know, but he may be tamed. 
The African elephants are indeed more savage than the 
Asiatic; nevertheless, I think that Hannibal, for instance, 
used African elephants.” 

“ And who was Hannibal?” 

Stas glanced at her indulgently and with pity. 

“Really,” he said, “at your age, you are not supposed 
to know such things. Hannibal was a great Carthaginian 
commander, who used elephants in his war with the 
Romans, and as Carthage was in Africa, he must have 
used African —”’ 

Further conversation was interrupted by the resounding 
roar of the elephant, who, having eaten and drunk his 
fill, began to trumpet; it could not be known whether 
from joy or from longing for complete freedom. Saba 
started up and began to bark, while Stas said: 

“There you have it! Now he is calling companions. 
We will be in a nice predicament if he attracts a whole 
herd here.” 

“He will tell them that we were kind to him,” Nell 
responded hastily. 

But Stas, who indeed was not alarmed, as he reckoned 
that even if a herd should rush towards them, the glare 
of the fire would frighten them away, smiled spitefully 
and said: 


254 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


“Very well! very well! But if the elephants appear, 
you won’t cry, oh no! Your eyes will only perspire as 
they did twice before.” 

And he began to tease her: 

“T do not cry, only my eyes perspire —”’ 

Nell, however, seeing his happy mien, conjectured 
that no immediate danger threatened them. 

“When he gets tame,” she said, “my eyes will not 
perspire, though ten lions should roar.” 

Ct Why?” 

“For he will defend us.” 

Stas quieted Saba, who would not stop replying to the 
elephant; after which he deliberated somewhat and 
spoke thus: 

“You did not think of one thing, Nell. Of course, we 
will not stay here for ages but will proceed farther; I 
do not say at once. On the contrary, the place is good 
and healthy; I have decided to stop here—a week, 
perhaps, — perhaps two, for you, and all of us as well, are 
entitled to a rest. Well, very good! As long as we stay 
here we will feed the elephant, though that will be a big 
task for us all. But he is locked up and we cannot take 
him with us. Well then, what later? We shall go and 
he will remain here and again will endure the pangs of 
hunger until he dies. Then we shall be all the more sorry 
for him.”’ 

Nell saddened very much and for some time sat in 
silence, evidently not knowing what reply to make to 
these just remarks, but after a while she raised her head 
and, brushing aside the tufts of hair which fell over her 
eyes, turned her gaze, full of confidence, on the boy. 

“T know,” she said, “that if you want to, you will get 


him out of the ravine.” 
ce I? 73 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 255 


And she stretched out her little finger, touched Stas’ 
hand with it, and repeated: 

ce Vay: 

The sly little woman understood that her confidence 
would flatter the boy and from that moment he would 
ponder on how to free the elephant. 


V 


THE night passed quietly and though, on the southern 
side of the sky, big clouds gathered, the morning was 
beautiful. By Stas’ orders, Kali and Mea, immediately 
after breakfast, began to gather melons and acacia pods 
as well as fresh leaves and all kinds of fodder, which they 
deposited upon the brink of the ravine. 

As Nell firmly insisted upon feeding her new friend 
herself, Stas cut for her from a young bifurcated fig tree 
something in the shape of a pitchfork in order to make 
it easier for her to shove down the supplies to the bottom 
of the ravine. The elephant trumpeted from morn, 
evidently calling for his refreshments, and when after- 
wards he beheld on the brink that same little white being 
who had fed him the previous day, he greeted her with a 
joyful gurgle and at once stretched out his trunk towards 
her. In the morning light he appeared to the children 
still more prodigious than on the preceding day. He 
was lean but already looked brisker and turned his small 
eyes almost joyfully on Nell. Nell even claimed that his 
fore legs had grown thicker during the night, and began 
to shove fodder with such zeal that Stas had to restrain her 
and in the end when she got out of breath too much, take 
her place at the work. Both enjoyed themselves immensely ; 
the elephant’s “whims” amused them especially. In 
the beginning he ate everything which fell at his feet, 
but soon, having satisfied the first cravings of hunger, he 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 257 


began to grow fastidious. Chancing upon a plant which 
was not to his taste, he beat it over his fore leg and after- 
wards tossed it upwards with his trunk, as if he wanted 
to say, “Eat this dainty yourselves;”’ finally, after having 
appeased his hunger and thirst, he began to fan with his 
prodigious ears with evident contentment. 

‘““T am sure,” said Nell, “that if we went down to him 
he would not hurt us.” 

And she began to call to him: 

“Elephant, dear elephant, is n’t it true you would not 
do any harm to us?” 

And when the elephant nodded his trunk in reply she 
turned to Stas: 

“There, you see he says ‘ Yes.’”’ 

“That may be,” Stas replied. “Elephants are very 
intelligent animals and this one undoubtedly understands 
that we both are necessary to him. Who knows whether 
he does not feel a little gratitude towards us? But it 
would be better not to try yet, and particularly not to let 
Saba try, as the elephant surely would kill him. But with 
time they become even friendly.” 

Further transports over the elephant were interrupted 
by Kali who, foreseeing that he should have to work every 
day to feed the gigantic beast, approached Stas with an 
ingratiating smile and said: 

“Great master, kill the elephant, and Kali will eat him 
instead of gathering grass and branches.”’ 

But the “great master”? was now a hundred miles from 
a desire to kill the elephant and, as in addition he was 
impulsive, he retorted: 

“You are a donkey.” 

Unfortunately he forgot the Kiswahili word for donkey 
and said it in English. Kali, not understanding English, 
evidently took it for some kind of compliment or praise 


258 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


for himself, as a moment later the children heard how he, 
addressing Mea, boastfully said: 

“Mea has a dark skin and dark brain, but Kali is a 
donkey.” 

After which he added with pride: 

“The great master himself said that Kaliis a donkey.” 

In the meantime Stas, ordering both to tend the little 
lady as the eye in the head and in case of any accident 
to summon him at once, took the rifle and went to the 
detached rock which blocked the ravine. Arriving at 
the place he inspected it attentively, examined all its 
cracks, inserted a stick into a crevice which he found 
near the bottom, and carefully measured its depths; after- 
wards he returned slowly to the camp and, opening the 
cartridge box, began to count the cartridges. 

He had barely counted three hundred when from a 
baobab tree growing about fifty paces from the tent 
Mea’s voice resounded. 

“Master! Master!” 

Stas approached the giant tree, whose trunk, hollowed 
through decay near the ground, looked like a tower, and 
asked: 

“What do you want?” 

“Not far away can be seen zebras, and further on ante- 
lopes are feeding.” 

“Good! I will take a rifle and go, for it is necessary 
to cure meat. But why did you climb the tree, and what 
are you doing there?” 

The girl answered in her sad, melodious voice: 

“Mea saw a nest of gray parrots and wanted to bring 
a young one to the little lady, but the nest is empty, so 
Mea will not get any beads for her neck.” 

“You will get them because you love the little lady.” 

The young negress came down the rugged bark as 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 259 


quickly as possible, and with “ve glistening with joy 
began to repeat: 

“Oh! Yes! Yes! Mea loves her very much — and 
beads also.” 

Stas gently stroked her head, after which he took the 
rifle, closed the cartridge box, and started in the direction 
in which the zebras were pastured. After a half hour the 
report of a shot reached the camp, and an hour later 
the young hunter returned with the good news that he 
had killed a young zebra and that the locality was full 
of game; that he saw from a height besides zebras, a 
numerous herd of ariel antelopes as well as a group of 
water-bucks pasturing in the vicinity of the river. 

Afterwards he ordered Kali to take a horse, and de- 
spatched him for the slaughtered game, while he him- 
self began to inspect carefully the gigantic baobab trunk, 
walk around it, and knock the rugged bark with the barrel 
of his rifle. 

“What are you doing?” Nell asked him. He replied: 

“Look what a giant! Fifteen men holding each other’s 
hands could not encircle that tree, which perhaps remem- 
bers the times of the Pharaohs. But the trunk at the 
bottom is decayed and hollow. Do you see that opening? 
Through it one can easily reach the middle. We can there 
arrange a room in which we all can live. This occurred 
to me when I saw Mea among the branches, and after- 
wards when I stalked the zebra I was continually thinking 
of it.” 

“Why, we are to escape to Abyssinia.” 

“Yes. INevertheless it is necessary to recuperate, and 
I told you yesterday that I had decided to remain here a 
week, or even two. You do not want to leave your ele- 
phant, and I fear for you during the rainy season, which 
has already commenced and during which fever is cer- 


260 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


tain. To-day the weather is fine; you see, however, that 
the clouds are gathering thicker and thicker and who 
knows whether it will not pour before night? The tent 
will not protect you sufficiently and in the baobab tree 
if it is not rotten to the top, we can laugh at the greatest 
downpour. It will be also safer in it than in the tent 
for if in the evening we protect this opening with thorns 
and make a little window to afford us light, then as 
many lions as want to may roar and hover around. The 
spring rainy season does not last longer than a month 
and I am more and more inclined to think that it will 
be necessary to wait through it. And if so, it is better 
here than elsewhere, and better still in that gigantic 
tree than under the tent.” 

Nell always agreed to everything that Stas wanted; 
so she agreed now; the more so, as the thought of remain- 
ing near the elephant and dwelling in a baobab tree 
pleased her immensely. She began now to think of how 
she would arrange the rooms, how she would furnish 
them, and how they would invite each other to “five 
o’clocks”’ and dinners. In the end they both were 
amused greatly and Nell wanted at once to inspect her 
new dwelling, but Stas, who with each day acquired more 
experience and prudence, restrained her from too sudden 
housekeeping. 

“ Before we live there,” he said, “it is first necessary to 
bid the present tenants to move out, if any such are found 
there.” 

Saying this, he ordered Mea to throw into the interior 
of the baobab tree a few lighted boughs, which smoked 
profusely because the branches were fresh. 

In fact, it appeared that he did well as the gigantic 
tree was occupied by housekeepers upon whose hospitality 
no reliance could be placed. 


VI 


THERE were two apertures in the tree, one large, about a 
half a yard from the ground; the other smaller, and about 
as high as the first story of a city residence. Mea had 
scarcely thrown the lighted, smoking branches into the 
lower one when immediately out of the upper one big 
bats began to fly; squeaking and blinded by the luster 
of the sun, they flew aimlessly about the tree. But after 
a while from the lower opening there stole out, like light- 
ning, a real tenant, in the person of a monstrous boa, who 
evidently, digesting the remnants of the last feast in a 
semi-somnolent state, had not become aroused and did not 
think of safety until the smoke curled in his nostrils. 
At the sight of the strong body, which, like a monstrous 
spring, darted out of the smoking interior of the tree, 
Stas grabbed Nell in his arms and began to run with her 
in the direction of the open jungle. But the reptile, itself 
terror-stricken, did not think of pursuing them; instead, 
winding in the grass and among the scattered packages, 
it slid away with unheard-of speed in the direction of 
the ravine, seeking to hide amid the rocky fissures and 
crannies. The children recovered their composure. Stas 
placed Nell on the ground and rushed for his rifle, and 
afterwards pursued the snake in the direction of the 
ravine, Nell following him. But after going a score of 
paces such an extraordinary spectacle struck their eyes 
that they stood still as if thunderstruck. Now high 
above the ravine appeared in the twinkling of an eye 


262 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


the body of the snake, and, describing a zigzag in the 
air, it fell again to the bottom. After a while it appeared 
a second time and again fell. The children, reaching 
the brink, saw with amazement that their new friend, 
the elephant, was amusing himself in this manner, for 
having first despatched the snake twice upon an aerial 
journey, at present he was crushing its head with his 
prodigious foot which resembled a log. Having finished 
this operation, he again lifted the still quivering body 
with his trunk; this time, however, he did not toss it up- 
wards, but directly into the waterfall. After this, nod- 
ding both ways and fanning himself with his ears, he began 
to gaze keenly at Nell, and finally stretched out his trunk 
towards her as if claiming a reward for his heroic and, 
at the same time, sensible deed. 

Nell ran at once to the tent and returning with a box 
full of wild figs, began to throw a few at a time to him, 
while he searched for them in the grass and placed one 
after another in his mouth. Those which fell in deeper 
crevices, he blew out with such force that, with the figs, 
stones the size of a man’s fist flew up. The children re- 
ceived this exhibition with applause and laughter. Nell 
went back several times for new supplies, not ceasing 
to contend with each fig that the elephant was entirely 
tamed and that they could even at that moment go down 
to him. , 

“You see, Stas; we now shall have a defender. For he 
is afraid of nobody in the desert — neither lion, nor snake, 
nor crocodile. And he is very good and surely loves us.” 

“Tf he is tamed,” said Stas, “and if I can leave you 
under his care, then really I can go hunting in perfect: 
peace, for a better defender for you I could not find in 
all Africa.” 

After a while he added: 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 263 


“The elephants of this place are wild, but I have 
read that Asiatic elephants, for instance, have a strange 
weakness for children. It has never occurred in India 
that an elephant has harmed a child, and if one falls in 
a rage, as sometimes happens, the native keepers send 
children to pacify him.” 

“Ah, you see! You see!” 

“In any case you did well in not allowing me to kill 
him.” 

At this Nell’s pupils flashed with joy like two little 
greenish flames. Standing on tiptoe, she placed both 
her hands on Stas’ shoulders and, tilting her head back- 
ward, asked, gazing into his eyes: 

“T acted as if I had how many years? Tell me! As 
if I had how many years?” 

And he replied: 

“At least seventy.” 

“You are always joking.” 

“Get angry, get angry, but who will free the elephant?”’ 

Hearing this, Nell began at once to fawn like a little 
kitten. 

“You — and I shall love you very much and he will 
also.”’ 

“T am thinking of that,” Stas said, “but it will be 
hard work and I shall not do it at once, but only when 
we are ready to start upon a farther journey.” 

“ec Why?” 

“Because if we should free him before he is entirely 
tame and becomes attached to us, he would go away 
at once.” 

“Oh! He won’t go away from me.” 

“You think that he already is like me,” retorted Stas 
with impatience. 

Further conversation was checked by the arrival of 


264 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


Kali, who brought with him the slain zebra and its colt, 
which had been partly devoured by Saba. It was the 
good fortune of the mastiff that he rushed after Kalli, 
and was not present at the encounter with the python 
for he would have chased after him and, overtaking him, 
would have perished in his murderous coils before Stas 
could come to his aid. For eating the zebra he received, 
however, from Nell a tongue-lashing which after all he 
did not take too much to heart as he did not even hide 
his lolling tongue, with which he came running in from 
the hunt. 

Stas announced in the meantime to Kali that he in- 
tended to arrange a dwelling in the interior of the tree 
and related to him what had occurred during the smok- 
ing out of the trunk, as well as how the elephant had 
handled the snake. The idea of living in the baobab 
tree, which would afford a protection-not only against 
the rain but also against the wild animals, pleased the 
negro very much; but on the other hand the conduct of 
the elephant did not meet his approval. 

“The elephant is foolish,” he said, “so he threw the 
nioka (snake) into the thundering water, but Kali knows 
that nioka is good; so he will search for it in the thunder- 
ing waters, and bake it as Kali is wise — and is a donkey.” 

“Tt is agreed that you are a donkey,” Stas answered, 
“but of course you will not eat the snake.” 

“Nioka is good,” repeated Kali. And pointing at the 
slain zebra, he added: 

“Better than that niama.” 

After which both went into the baobab tree and occu- 
pied themselves in arranging the dwelling. Kali, having 
found on the river-side a flat stone the size of a sieve, 
placed it in the trunk, heaped burning coals upon it, 
and afterwards continually added more fuel, watching 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 265 


only that the decayed wood on the inside did not ignite 
and cause the conflagration of the whole tree. He said 
that he did this in order that “nothing should bite the 
great master and the bibi.” In fact it appeared that 
this was not a useless precaution, for as soon as smoke 
filled the interior of the tree and spread even on the out- 
side there began to creep out of the cracks in the bark 
a great variety of creatures; scarabees, black and cherry- 
colored, shaggy spiders big as plums, caterpillars of the 
thickness of a finger, covered as though with thorns, and 
loathsome and at the same time venomous scolopendras 
whose bite may even cause death. In view of what was 
occurring on the outside of the trunk it was easy to sur- 
mise how many similar creatures must have perished 
from the fumes of the smoke on the inside. Those which 
fell from the bark and lower branches upon the grass 
were crushed unmercifully with a stone by Kali, who 
was continually gazing at the upper and lower openings 
as if he feared that at any moment something strange 
might appear in either of them. 

“Why are you looking so?” Stas asked. “Do you 
think that another snake is hiding in the tree?” 

“No, Kali fears Mzimu!”’ 

“What is a Mzimu?”’ 

“An evil spirit.” 

“Did you ever in your life see a Mzimu?” 

“No, but Kali has heard the horrible noise which 
Mzimu makes in the huts of fetish-men.” 

“Nevertheless your fetish-men do not fear him.” 

“The fetish-men know how to exorcise him, and after- 
wards go to the huts and say that Mzimu is angry; so 
the negroes bring them bananas, honey, pombe (beer made 


of sorghum plant), eggs, and meat in order to propitiate 
the Mzimu.” : 


266 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


Stas shrugged his shoulders. 

“T see that it is a good thing to be a fetish-man among 
your people. Perhaps that snake was Mzimu?” 

Kali shook his head. 

“In such case the elephant could not kill the Mzimu, 
but the Mzimu would kill the elephant. Mzimu is death.” 

Some kind of strange crash and rumble within the 
tree suddenly interrupted his reply. From the lower 
aperture there burst out a strange ruddy dust, after which 
there resounded a second crash, louder than the former one. 

Kali threw himself in the twinkling of an eye upon 
his face and began to cry shrilly: 

“Aka! Mzimu! Aka! Aka! Aka!” 

Stas at first stepped back, but soon recovered his 
composure, and when Nell with Mea came running up 
he began to explain what might have happened. 

“Tn all probability,” he said, “a whole mass of decayed 
wood in the interior of the trunk, expanding from the 
heat, finally tumbled down and buried the burning wood. 
And he thinks that it was Mzimu. Let Mea, however, 
pour water a few times through the opening; if the live 
embers are not extinct for want of air and the decayed wood 
is kindled, the tree might be consumed by fire.” 

After which, seeing that Kali continued lying down 
and did not cease repeating with terror, “Aka! Aka!” he 
took the rifle with which he usually shot at guinea-fowl 
and, firing into the opening, said, shoving the boy with 
the barrel: 

“Your Mzimu is killed. Do not fear.” 

And Kali raised his body, but remained on his knees. 

“Oh, great master! great! You do not even fear 
Mzimu!” 

“Aka! Aka!” exclaimed Stas, mimicking the negro. 

And he began to laugh. 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 267 


The negro became calm after a time and when he 
sat down to partake of the food prepared by Mea, it 
appeared that the temporary fright had not at all deprived 
him of his appetite, for besides a portion of smoked meat 
he consumed the raw liver of the zebra colt, not counting 
the wild figs, which a sycamore growing in the neighbor- 
hood furnished in great abundance. Afterwards with Stas 
they returned to the tree, about which there was yet a good 
deal of work to do. The removal of the decayed wood 
and the ashes, with hundreds of broiled scarabees and centi- 
pedes, together with a score of baked bats occupied over 
two hours’ time. Stas was also surprised that the bats 
could live in the immediate neighborhood of the snake. 
He surmised, however, that the gigantic python either 
despised such trifling game or, not being able to wind 
himself around anything in the interior of the trunk, 
could not reach them. The glowing coals, having caused 
the fall of layers of decayed wood, cleaned out the interior 
splendidly, and its appearance delighted Stas, for it was 
as wide as a large room and could have given shelter not 
merely to four persons, but to ten men. The lower open- 
ing formed a doorway and the upper a window, thanks to 
which in the huge trunk it was neither dark nor stifling. 
Stas thought of dividing the whole, by means of the 
tent canvas, into two rooms, of which one was to be as- 
signed to Nell and Mea and the other to himself, Kali, and 
Saba. The tree was not decayed to the top of the trunk; 
the rain, therefore, could not leak to the center, but in 
order to be protected completely, it was sufficient to raise 
and prop bark above both openings in such manner that 
it should form two eaves. The bottom of the interior he 
determined to strew with sand from the river bank which 
had been grilled by the sun, and to carpet its surface with 
dry moss. 


268 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


The work was really hard, especially for Kali, for he 
had, in addition, to cure the meat, water the horses, 
and think of fodder for the elephant who was incessantly 
trumpeting for it. But the young negro proceeded to 
work about the new abode with great willingness and 
even ardor; the reason for this he explained the same 
day to Stas in the following manner: 

“When the great master and the ‘bibi,’”’ he said, hold- 
ing his arms akimbo, “live in the tree, Kali will not have 
to build big zarebas for the night and he can be idle every 
night.” 

“Then you like to be idle?” Stas asked. 

“Kali is a man, so Kali loves to be idle, as only women 
ought to work.” 

“But you see, however, that I work for the ‘bibi. 

“But because when the ‘bibi’ grows up she will have 
to work for the great master, and, if she does not want 
to, the great master will whip her.” 

But Stas, at the very thought of whipping the “ bibi,”’ 
jumped as if scalded and shouted in anger: 

“Fool, do you know who the ‘bibi’ is?”’ 

“T do not,”’ replied the black boy with fear. 

“Bibi — is — is — a good Mzimu.” 

And Kali cowered. 

After finishing his work he approached Nell bashfully; 
then he fell on his face and began to repeat, not indeed 
in a terror-stricken, but in an entreating voice: 

“Aka! Aka! Aka!” 

And the “Good Mzimu” stared at him, with her beauti- 
ful, sea-green eyes wide open, not understanding what 
had happened nor what was the matter with Kali. 


999 


Vil 


THE new abode, which Stas named “Cracow,” was com- 
pleted in the course of three days. But before that time 
the principal luggage was deposited in the “men’s quar- 
ters”? and during great downpours the young quartette 
staid in the gigantic trunk, perfectly sheltered. The 
rainy season began in earnest but it was not one of our 
long autumn rains during which the heavens are heavy 
with dark clouds and the tedious, vexatious bad weather 
lasts for weeks. There, about a dozen times during the 
day, the wind drives over the sky the swollen clouds, which 
water the earth copiously, after which the sun shines 
brightly, as if freshly bathed, and floods with a golden 
luster the rocks, the river, the trees, and the entire jungle. 
The grass grew almost before their eyes. The trees were 
clad with more abundant leaves, and, before the old fruit 
fell, buds of the new germinated. The air, owing to the 
tiny drops of water suspended in it, grew so transpar- 
ent that even distant objects became entirely distinct and 
the view extended into the immeasurably far expanse. 
On the sky hung charming, seven-colored rainbows and 
the waterfall was almost continually attired with them. 
The brief dawn and twilight played with thousands of 
lights of such brilliance that the children had not seen 
anything like it, even on the Libyan Desert. The lower 
clouds, those nearest the earth, were dyed cherry-colored, 
the upper, better illuminated, overflowed in the shape 


270 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


of a lake of purple and gold, and the tiny woolly cloudlets 
changed colors like rubies, amethysts, and opals. During 
the night time, between one downpour of rain and an- 
other, the moon transformed into diamonds the drops of 
dew which clung on the mimosa and acacia leaves, and 
the zodiacal light shone in the refreshed transparent 
air more brightly than at any other season of the 
year. 

From the overflow which the river formed below the 
waterfall came the uneasy croaking of frogs and the 
doleful piping of toads, and fireflies, resembling shooting 
stars, flew from bank to bank amid the clumps of bamboo 
and arum. 

But when clouds covered the starry heaven and the 
rain began to fall it became very dusky and the interior 
of the baobab tree was as dark as in a cellar. Desiring to 
avoid this, Stas ordered Mea to melt the fat of the killed 
game and make a lamp of a small plate, which he placed 
beneath the upper opening, which was called a window 
by the children. The light from this window, visible 
from a distance in the darkness, drove away the wild 
animals, but on the other hand attracted bats and even 
birds so much that Kali finally was compelled to construct 
in the opening something in the nature of a screen of 
thorns similar to the one with which he closed the lower 
opening for the night. 

However, in daytime, during fair weather, the 
children left “Cracow” and strolled over the promon- 
tory. Stas started after antelope-ariels and ostriches, of 
which numerous flocks appeared near the river below, 
while Nell went to her elephant, who in the beginning 
trumpeted only for food and later trumpeted when he 
felt lonesome without his little friend. He always greeted 
her with sheer delight and pricked his enormous ears as 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS Zal 


soon as he heard from the distance her voice or her foot- 
steps. 

Once, when Stas went hunting and Kali angled for fish 
beyond the waterfall, Nell decided to go to the rock which 
closed the ravine, to see whether Stas had done anything 
about its removal. Mea, occupied with preparations 
for dinner, did not observe her departure; while on the 
way, the little maid, gathering flowers, particularly begonia 
which grew abundantly in the rocky clefts, approached 
the declivity by which they at one time left the ravine 
and descending found herself near the rock. The great 
stone, detached from its native walls, obstructed the 
ravine as it had previously done. Nell, however, noticed 
that between the rock and the wall there was a passage 
so wide that even a grown-up person could pass through 
it with ease. For a while she hesitated, then she went in 
and found herself on the other side. But there was a bend 
there, which it was necessary to pass in order to reach 
the wide egress of the locked-in waterfall. Nell began 
to meditate. “I will go yet a little farther. I will peer 
from behind the rocks; I will take just one look at the 
elephant who will not see me at all, and I will return.” 
Thus meditating, she advanced step by step farther and 
farther, until finally she reached a place where the ravine 
widened suddenly into a small dell and she saw the ele- 
phant. He stood with his back turned towards her, 
with trunk immersed in the waterfall, and drank. This 
emboldened her, so pressing closely to the wall, she ad- 
vanced a few steps, and a few more yet, and then the 
huge beast, desiring to splash his sides, turned his head, 
saw the little maid, and, beholding her, moved at once 
towards her. 

Nell became very much frightened, but as there was 
no time now for retreat, pressing knee to knee, she curt- 


272 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


sied to the elephant as best she could; after which she 
stretched out her little hand with the begonias and spoke 
in a slightly quivering voice. 

“Good day, dear elephant. I know you won’t harm 
me; so I came to say good day — and I have only these 
flowers —” 

And the colossus approached, stretched out his trunk, 
and picked the bunch of begonias out of Nell’s little 
fingers, and putting them into his mouth he dropped 
them at once as evidently neither the rough leaves nor 
the flowers were to his taste. Nell now saw above her 
the trunk like a huge black snake which stretched and 
bent; it touched one of her little hands and then the 
other; afterwards both shoulders and finally descend- 
ing it began to swing gently to and fro. 

“T knew that you would not harm me,”’ the little girl 
repeated, though fear did not leave her. 

Meanwhile the elephant drew back his fabulous ears, 
winding and unwinding alternately his trunk and gurg- 
ling joyfully as he always gurgled when the little girl 
approached the brink of the ravine. 

And as at one time Stas and the lion, so now these 
two stood opposite each other — he, an enormity, re- 
sembling a house or a rock, and she a mite whom he 
could crush with one motion, not indeed in rage but 
through inadvertence. 

But the good and prudent animal did not make angry 
or inadvertent motions, but evidently was pleased and 
happy at the arrival of the little guest. 

Nell gained courage gradually and finally raised her 
eyes upwards and, looking as though onto a high roof 
she asked timidly, raising her little hand: 

“May I stroke your trunk?” 

The elephant did not, indeed, understand English, but 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 273 


from the motion of her hand discerned at once what she 
wanted and shoved under her palm the end of his trunk, 
which was over two yards in length. 

Nell began to stroke the trunk; at first carefully with 
one hand, afterwards with both, and finally embraced it 
with both arms and hugged it with perfectly childish trust. 

The elephant stepped from one foot to the other and 
continually gurgled from joy. 

After a while he wound the diminutive body of the 
girl with his trunk and, lifting her up, began to swing her 
lightly right and left. 

“More! More!” cried Nell, intensely amused. 

And the play lasted quite a long time and afterwards 
the little girl, now entirely bold, invented a new one. 

Finding herself on the ground, she tried to climb on 
the elephant’s fore legs, as on a tree, or, hiding behind 
them, she asked whether he could find her. But at these 
frolics she observed one thing, namely, that numerous 
thorns were stuck in his hind legs; from these the power- 
ful beast could not free himself, first because he could 
not conveniently reach his hind legs with his trunk, and 
again because he evidently feared to wound the finger 
with which the trunk ended and without which he would 
lose his skill and cleverness. Nell was not at all aware 
that such thorns in the feet are a real plague to elephants 
in India and still more in the African jungles composed 
mainly of thorny plants. As, however, she felt sorry 
for the honest giant, without any thought, having squat- 
ted near his foot, she began to extract delicately at first 
the bigger splinters and afterwards the smaller, at which 
work she did not cease to babble and assure the elephant 
that she would not leave a single one. He understood 
excellently what she was concerned with, and bending his 
legs at the knee showed in this manner that on the soles 


274 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


between the hoofs covering his toes there were also thorns 
which caused him still greater pain. 

In the meantime Stas came from the hunt and at once 
asked Mea where the little lady was. Receiving a reply 
that she undoubtedly was in the tree, he was about to 
enter the interior of the baobab tree when at that moment 
it seemed to him that he heard Nell’s voice in the depth of 
the ravine. Not believing his own ears, he rushed at once 
to the edge and, glancing down, was astounded. The little 
girl sat near the foot of the colossus which stood so quietly 
that if he did not move his trunk and ears, one would 
think that he was hewed out of stone. 

“Nell!” Stas shouted. 

And she, engaged with her work, answered merrily: 

“At once! At once!” 

To this the boy, who was not accustomed to hesitate 
in the presence of danger, lifted his rifle with one hand in 
the air and with the other grabbed a dry liana stalk, 
which was stripped of its bark, and, winding his legs about 
it, slid to the bottom of the ravine. 

The elephant moved his ears uneasily, but at that 
moment Nell rose and, hugging his trunk, cried hurriedly: 

“Don’t be afraid, elephant! That is Stas.” 

Stas perceived at once that she was in no danger, but 
his legs yet trembled under him, his heart palpitated 
violently, and before he recovered from the sensation, he 
began to speak in a choking voice, full of grief and anger: 

“Nell! Nell! How could you do this?” 

And she began to explain that she did not do anything 
wrong, for the elephant was good and was already entirely 
tamed; that she wanted to take only one look at him and 
return, but he stopped her and began to play with her, 
that he swung her very carefully, and if Stas wanted he 
would swing him also. 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 275 


Saying this, she took hold of the end of the trunk with 
one hand and drew it to Stas, while she waved the other 
hand right and left, saying at the same time to the ele- 
phant: 

“Elephant! Swing Stas also.” 

The wise animal surmised from her gesture what she 
wanted of him, and Stas, caught by the belt of his trousers, 
in one moment found himself in mid-air. In this there 
was such a strange and amusing contrast between his still 
angry mien and this rocking above the earth that the 
little “Mzimu” began to laugh until the tears came, 
clapping all the time her hands and shouting as before: 

“More! More!” 

And as it is impossible to preserve an appropriate 
dignity and deliver a lecture on deportment at a time 
when one is suspended from the end of an elephant’s 
trunk and involuntarily goes through the motions of a 
pendulum, the boy in the end began to laugh also. But 
after a certain time, noticing that the motions of the 
trunk were slackening and the elephant intended to de- 
posit him on the ground, a new idea unexpectedly oc- 
curred to him, and, taking advantage of the moment at 
which he found himself close to the prodigious ear, he 
grabbed it with both hands and in the twinkling of an 
eye climbed over it onto the head and sat on the elephant’s 
neck. 

“Aha!” he exclaimed from above to Nell; “let him 
understand that he must obey me.” 

And he began to stroke the elephant’s head with his 
palm with the mien of a ruler and master. 

“Good!” cried Nell from below, “but how will you get 
down now?” 

“That is small trouble,’’ Stas answered. 

And slinging his legs over the elephant’s forehead, he 


276 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


entwined the trunk with them and slid over it as if down 
a tree. 

“That is how I come down.” 

After which both began to pick out the rest of the 
thorns from the legs of the elephant who submitted with 
the greatest patience. 

In the meantime the first drops of rain fell; so Stas 
decided to escort Nell to “Cracow’”’; but here an unex- 
pected obstacle presented itself. The elephant did not 
want to part from her and every time she attempted to 
go away he turned her about with his trunk and drew 
her towards him. The situation became disagreeable, 
and the merry play in view of the stubbornness of the 
elephant might have ended unfortunately. The boy 
did not know what to do as the rain became each moment 
heavier and a downpour threatened them. Both with- 
drew, indeed, somewhat towards the egress, but gradually, 
and the elephant followed them. 

Finally Stas stood between him and Nell. He fixed 
his gaze upon the elephant’s eyes and at the same time 
said to Nell in an undertone: 

“Don’t run, but continually draw back to the narrow 
passageway.” 

“And you, Stas?” the little maid asked. 
“Draw back!” repeated Stas with emphasis, “other- 
wise I shall have to shoot the elephant.” 

The little maid, under the influence of this threat, 
obeyed the command; the more so as, having already 
unbounded confidence in the elephant, she was sure that 
under no circumstances would he do any harm to Stas. 

But the boy stood about four paces from the giant, not 
removing his eyes from him for a moment. 

In this manner a few minutes passed; a moment full of 
danger followed. The ears of the elephant moved a score 


& 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 277 


of times, his little eyes glittered strangely, and suddenly 
his trunk was raised. 

Stas felt that he was turning pale. 

“Death!” he thought. 

But the colossus turned his trunk unexpectedly toward 
the brink where he was accustomed to see Nell and began 
to trumpet more mournfully than he had ever done before. 

Stas went peacefully to the passageway and behind 
the rock found Nell, who did not want to return to the 
tree without him. 

The boy had an uncontrollable desire to say to her: 
“See what you have done! On account of you I might 
have been killed.” But there was no time for reproof as 
the rain changed into a downpour and it was necessary to 
return as quickly as possible. Nell was drenched to the 
skin though Stas wrapped her in his clothing. 

In the interior of the tree he ordered the negress to 
change Nell’s dress while he himself unleashed Saba, 
whom previously he had tied from fear that in following 
his tracks he might scare away the game; afterwards 
he began to ransack all the clothing and luggage in the 
hope that he might find some overlooked pinch of quinine. 

But he did not find anything. Only at the bottom of 
the small gallipot which the missionary had given him in 
Khartiim there lay a little white powder which would 
scarcely suffice for whitening the tip of a finger. He 
nevertheless determined to fill the gallipot with hot 
water and give this gargle to Nell to drink. 

Then when the downpour had passed away and the 
sun began to shine again, he left the tree to look at the 
fish which Kali had brought. The negro had caught about 
twenty upon a line of thin wire. Most of them were small, 
but there were three about a foot long, silver speckled 
and surprisingly light. Mea, who was bred upon the 


278 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


banks of the Blue Nile, was conversant with these fishes; 
she said that they were good to eat and towards evening 
they leap very high above the water. In fact, at the 
scaling and cleaning of the first it appeared that they 
were so light because they had big air bladders. Stas 
took one of them about the size of an apple and brought 
it to show to Nell. 

“Look!” he said. “This was in the fish. We could 
make a pane for our window from about a dozen of these. 

And he pointed at the upper opening in the tree. 

But reflecting for a time he added: 

“ And even something more.” 

“What is it?” asked Nell. 

. “A kite.” 

“Such as you used to send up in Port Said? Oh good! 
Dom 

“T will. With thin, cut pieces of bamboo I will make a 
frame and I will use these membranes instead of paper 
for they are lighter and the rain will not soak them. Such 
a kite will go away up in the air and with a powerful wind 
will fly the Lord knows where —”’ 

Here he suddenly struck his forehead. 

“T have an idea.” 

“What is it?”’ 

“You shall see. As soon as I figure it out better, I 
will tell you. Now that elephant of yours is making such 
a racket that one cannot even talk.” 

Indeed, the elephant, from longing for Nell, and _ per- 
haps for both children, trumpeted so that the whole ravine 
shook, together with the adjacent trees. 

“We must show ourselves to him,” Nell said. “That 
will quiet him.” 

And they strolled to the ravine. But Stas, entirely 
absorbed in his thoughts, began in an undertone to say: 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 279 


“Nelly Rawlinson and Stanislas Tarkowski of Port 
Said, having escaped from the dervishes in Fashoda, are 
at —’” 

And stopping abruptly, he asked: 

“How to designate the place?” 

* What, Stas?”’ 

“Nothing, nothing. I already know, — ‘are about a 
month’s journey west of the Blue Nile and beg for im- 
mediate aid.’ When the wind blows to the north or to the 
west I will send twenty, fifty, a hundred of such kites 
and you, Nell, shall help me to paste them.” 

“ Kites?” 

“Yes, and J tell you that they can be of greater service 
to us than ten elephants.”’ 

In the meantime they reached the eae And now 
began the shuffling of the elephant’s feet, the nodding, 
the movements of the ears, the gurgling, and again the 
mournful trumpeting when Nell attempted to retire even 
for a moment. In the end.the little maid began to ex- 
plain to the “dear elephant” that she could not be with 
him all the time, for, of course, she had to sleep, eat, work, 
and keep house in “Cracow.” But he became quiet only 
when she shoved down to him with a pitchfork provisions 
prepared by Kali; at night he again began to trumpet. 

The children that same evening named him “The King,” 
as Nell was sure that before he got caught in the ravine 
he undoubtedly was the king of all the elephants in Africa. 


VIII 


Durine the few days following Nell passed all the mo- 
ments during which the rain did not fall with the King, 
who did not oppose her departure, having understood 
that the little maiden would return a few times daily. 
Kali, who as a rule feared elephants, gazed at this one 
with amazement but in the end came to the conclusion 
that the mighty, “Good Mzimu” had bewitched the giant, 
so he began to visit him also. 

The King was well disposed in his behavior towards 
Kali as well as towards Mea, but Nell alone could do with 
him whatever she pleased, so that after a week she ven- 
tured even to bring Saba to him. For Stas this was a 
great relief as he could with perfect peace leave Nell 
under the protection, or, as he expressed it, “under the 
trunk of the elephant,” and without any fear he went 
hunting and even at times took Kali with him. He was 
certain now that the noble animal would not desert them 
under any circumstances and began to consider how to 
free him from his confinement. 

And to speak properly, he long ago had discovered a 
way, but it required such sacrifices that he wrestled with 
his thoughts as to whether he would use it and after- 
wards postponed doing it from day to day. As he had 
no one to speak to about this, he finally decided to ac- 
quaint Nell with his intentions, though he regarded her 
as a mere child. 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 281 


“The rock can be blasted with powder, but for that 
it is necessary to spoil a great number of cartridges; that 
is, to extract the bullets, pour out the powder, and make 
one big charge out of it all. Such a charge I will insert in 
the deepest fissure which I can find in the middle; after- 
wards I will plug it and light a fire. Then the rock will 
burst into a few or even a score of pieces and we can lead 
the King out.” 

“ But if there is a great explosion, will he not get scared?” 

“Let him get scared,’ answered Stas quickly. “That 
bothers me the least. Really, it is not worth while to 
talk to you seriously.” 

Nevertheless he continued, or rather thought aloud: 

“But if I do not use enough cartridges the rock will 
not burst and I shall waste them in vain; if I use a suffi- 
cient number, then not many will remain. And if I should 
be in want of them before the end of the journey, death 
clearly threatens us. For with what will I hunt, with 
what will I defend you in case of an attack? You well 
know, of course, that if it were not for this rifle and the 
cartridges we would have perished long ago, either at 
Gebhr’s hands or from starvation. And it is very fortu- 
nate too that we have horses for without them we could 
not have carried all these things and the cartridges.” 


At this Nell raised her finger and declared with great 
positiveness : 


“When I tell the King, he will carry everything.” 

“How will he carry the cartridges, if very few of them 
remain?” 

“As to that, he will defend us.” 

“But he won’t fire from his trunk as I do from the 
rifle.” 

“Then we can eat figs and big gourds which grow on 
the trees, and Kali will catch fish.” 


282 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


“That is, as long as we stay near the river. We still 
have to pass the rainy season here, as these continual 
downpours’ would surely prostrate you with the fever. 
Remember, however, that later we shall start upon a 
further journey and we might chance upon a desert.”’ 

“Such as Sahara?” Nell asked in alarm. 

“No; one where there are neither rivers, nor fruit- 
trees, and only low acacias and mimosas grow. There 
one can live only upon what is secured by hunting. The 
King will find grass there and I antelopes, but if I do not 
have anything to shoot them with, then the King will not 
catch them.” 

And Stas, in reality, had something to worry about, 
as by that time, when the elephant was already tamed 
and had become friendly it was impossible to abandon 
him and doom him to death by starvation; and to 
liberate him meant the loss of a greater portion of the 
ammunition and exposing themselves to unavoidable 
destruction. 

So Stas postponed the work from day to day, repeating 
to himself in his soul each evening: 

“Perhaps to-morrow I may devise some other scheme.”’ 

In the meantime to this trouble others were added. 
At first Kali was stung at the river below by wild bees 
to which he was led by a small gray-greenish bird, well- 
known in Africa and called bee-guide. The black boy, 
through indolence, did not smoke out the bees sufficiently 
and returned with honey, but so badly stung and swollen 
that an hour later he lost all consciousness. The “Good 
Mzimu,” with Mea’s aid, extracted stings from him until 
night and afterwards plastered him with earth upon 
which Stas poured water. Nevertheless, towards morn- 
ing it seemed as if the poor negro were dying. Fortunately, 
the nursing and his strong constitution overcame the 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 283 


danger; he did not, however, recover his health until 
the lapse of ten days. 

The second mishap was met by the horses. Stas, who 
during Kali’s sickness had to fetter the horses and lead 
them to water, observed that they began to grow terribly 
lean. This could not be explained by a lack of fodder 
as in consequence of the rains grass shot up high and 
there was excellent pasturage near the ford. And yet 
the horses wasted away. After a few days their hair 
bristled, their eyes became languid, and from their nos- 
trils a thick slime flowed. In the end they ceased to eat 
and instead drank eagerly, as if fever consumed them. 
When Kali regained his health they were merely two 
skeletons. But he only glanced at them and understood 
at once what had happened. 

“Tsetse!”’ he said, addressing Stas. “They must die.” 

Stas also understood, for while in Port Said he had often 
heard of the African fly, called ‘ tsetse,” which is such 
a terrible plague in some regions that wherever it has 
its permanent habitat the negroes do not possess any 
cattle at all, and wherever, as a result of temporary favor- 
able conditions it multiplies unexpectedly, cattle perish. 
A horse, ox, or donkey bitten by a tsetse wastes and dies 
in the course of a fortnight or even in a few days. The 
local animals understand the danger which threatens 
them, for it happens that whole herds of oxen, when they 
hear its hum near a waterfall, are thrown into a wild stam- 
pede and scamper in all directions. 

Stas’ horses were bitten; these horses and the donkey 
Kali now rubbed daily with some kind of plant, the odor 
of which resembled that of onions and which he found in 
the jungles. He said that the odor would drive away the 
tsetse, but notwithstanding this preventative remedy the 
horses grew thinner. Stas, with dread, thought of what 


284 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


might happen if all the animals should succumb; how 
then could he convey Nell, the saddle-cloth, the tent, 
the cartridges and the utensils? There was so much of 
them that only the King could carry them all. But to 
liberate the King it was necessary to sacrifice at least 
two-thirds of the cartridges. 

Ever-increasing troubles gathered over Stas’ head like 
the clouds which did not cease to water the jungle with | 
rain. Finally came the greatest calamity, in the presence 
of which all the others dwindled — fever! 


IX 


ONE night at supper Nell, having raised a piece of smoked 
meat to her lips, suddenly pushed it away, as if with 
loathing, and said: 

“T cannot eat to-day.” 

Stas, who had learned from Kali where the bees were 
and had smoked them out daily in order to get their 
honey, was certain that the little one had eaten during 
the day too much honey, and for that reason he did not 
pay any attention to her lack of appetite. But she after 
a while rose and began to walk hurriedly about the camp- 
fire describing an ever larger circle. 

“Do not get away too far, for something might seize 
you,” the boy shouted at her. 

He really, however, did not fear anything, for the 
elephant’s presence, which the wild animals scented, and 
his trumpeting, which reached their vigilant ears, held 
them at a respectable distance... It assured safety alike 
to the people and to the horses, for the most ferocious 
beasts of prey in the jungle, the lion, the panther, and the 
leopard, prefer to have nothing to do with an elephant 
and not to approach too near his tusks and trunk. 

Nevertheless, when the little maid continued to run 
around, more and more hurriedly, Stas followed her and 
asked: 

“Say, little moth! Why are you flying like that about 
the fire?” 


286 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


He asked still jestingly, but really was uneasy and his 
uneasiness increased when Nell answered: 

“T don’t know. I can’t sit down in any place.” 

“What is the matter with you?” 

“T feel so strangely —”’ 

And then suddenly she rested her head on his bosom and 
as though confessing a fault, exclaimed in a meek voice, 
broken by sobs: 

“Stas, perhaps I am sick —”’ 

“Nell!” 

Then he placed his palm upon her forehead which was 
dry and icy. So he took her in his arms and carried her 
to the camp-fire. 

“ Are you cold?”’ he asked on the way. 

“Cold and hot, but more cold —”’ 

In fact her little teeth chattered and chills continually 
shook her body. Stas now did not have the slightest 
doubt that she had a fever. 

He at once ordered Mea to conduct her to the tree, 
undress her and place her on the ground, and afterwards 
to cover her with whatever she could find, for he had seen 
in Khartim and Fashoda that fever-stricken people were 
covered with sheeps’ hide in order to perspire freely. He 
determined to sit at Nell’s side the whole night and give 
her hot water with honey to drink. But she in the begin- 
ning did not want to drink. By the light of the little 
lamp hung in the interior of the tree he observed her 
glittering eyes. After a while she began to complain of 
the heat and at the same time shook under the saddle- 
cloth and plaids. Her hands and forehead continued 
cold, but had Stas known anything about febrile disorders, 
he would have seen by her extraordinary restlessness that 
she must have a terrible fever. With fear he observed 
that when Mea entered with hot water the little girl 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 287 


gazed at her as though with a certain amazement and 
even fear and did not seem to recognize her. With him 
she spoke consciously. She said to him that she could not 
lie down and begged him to permit her to rise and run 
about; then again she asked whether he was not angry 
at her because she was sick, and when he assured her that 
he was not, her eyelashes were suffused with the tears 
which surged to her eyes, and she assured him that on the 
morrow she would be entirely well. 

That evening, or that night, the elephant was somehow 
strangely disturbed and continually trumpeted so as to 
awake Saba and cause him to bark. Stas observed that 
this irritated the patient; so he left the tree to quiet 
them. He silenced Saba easily, but as it was a harder 
matter to bid the elephant to be silent, he took with 
him a few melons to throw to him, and stuff his trunk 
at least for a time. Returning, he observed, by the light 
of the camp-fire, Kali who, with a piece of smoked meat 
on his shoulders, was going in the direction of the river. 

“What are you doing there, and where are you going?” 
he asked the negro. 

And the black boy stopped, and when Stas drew near 
to him said with a mysterious countenance: 

“Kali is going to another tree to place meat for the 
wicked Mzimu.” 

“Why?” 

“That the wicked Mzimu should not kill the ‘Good 
Mzimu.’” 

Stas wanted to say something in reply, but suddenly 
grief seized his bosom; so he only set his teeth and walked 
away in silence. 

When he returned to the tree Nell’s eyes were closed, her 
hands, lying on the saddle-cloth, quivered indeed strongly, 
but it seemed that she was slumbering. Stas sat down 


288 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


near her, and from fear of waking her he sat motionless. 
Mea, sitting on the other side, readjusted every little 
while pieces of ivory protruding out of her ears, in order 
to defend herself in this manner from drowsiness. It 
became still; only from the river below, from the direction 
of the overflow, came the croaking of frogs and the melan- 
choly piping of toads. 

Suddenly Nell sat up on the bedding. 

ito) ekg 

“T am here, Nell.” 

And she, shaking like a leaf in the breeze, began to 
seek his hands and repeat hurriedly: 

“T am afraid! I am afraid! Give me your hand!” 

“Don’t fear. I am with you.” 

And he grasped her palm which this time was heated 
as if on fire; not knowing what to do he began to cover 
that poor, emaciated hand with kisses. 

“Don’t be afraid, Nell! don’t be afraid!”’ 

After which he gave her water with honey to drink, 
which by that time had cooled. This time Nell drank 
eagerly and clung to the hand with the utensil when he 
tried to take it away from her lips. The cool drink seemed 
to soothe her. 

Silence ensued. But after the lapse of half an hour 
Nell again sat up on the bedding and in her wide-open 
eyes could be seen terrible fright. 

UES | 

“What is it, dear?” 

“Why,” she asked in a broken voice, “do Gebhr and 
Chamis walk around the tree and peer at me?” 

To Stas in an instant it seemed as if thousands of ants 
were crawling over him. 

“What are you saying, Nell?” he said. ‘There is 
nobody here. That is Kali walking around the tree.” 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 289 


But she, staring at the dark opening, cried with chat- 
tering teeth: 

“ And the Bedouins too! Why did you kill them?” 

Stas clasped her with his arms and pressed her to his 
bosom. 

“You know why! Don’t look there! Don’t think of 
that! That happened long ago!” 

“To-day! To-day!” 

“No, Nell, long ago.” 

In fact it was long ago, but it had returned like a wave 
beaten back from the shore and again filled with terror the 
thoughts of the sick child. 

All words of reassurance appeared in vain. Nell’s 
eyes widened more and more. Her heart palpitated so 
violently that it seemed that it would burst at any mo- 
ment. She began to throw herself about like a fish taken 
out of the water, and this continued almost until morning. 
Only towards the morning was her strength exhausted and 
her head dropped upon the bedding. 

“T am weak, weak,” she repeated. “Stas, I am flying 
somewhere down below.” 

After which she closed her eyes. 

Stas at first became terribly alarmed for he thought that 
she had died. But this was only the end of the first 
paroxysm of the dreadful African fever, termed deadly, 
two attacks of which strong and healthy people can 
resist, but the third no one thus far had been able to 
withstand. Travelers had often related this in Port Said 
in Mr. Rawlinson’s home, and yet more frequently Cath- 
olic missionaries returning to Europe, whom Pan Tar- 
kowski received hospitably. The second attack comes 
after a few days or a fortnight, while if the third does 
not come within two weeks it is not fatal as it is reckoned 
as the first in the recurrence of the sickness. Stas knew 


290 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


that the only medicine which could break or keep off the 
attack was quinine in big doses, but now he did not have 
an atom of it. 

For the time being, however, seeing that Nell was 
breathing, he became somewhat calm and began to pray 
for her. But in the meantime the sun leaped from beyond 
the rocks of the ravine and it was day. The elephant 
already demanded his breakfast and from the direction 
of the overflow which the river made resounded the cries 
of aquatic birds. Desiring to kill a brace of guinea-fowl 
for broth for Nell, the boy took his gun and strolled 
along the river towards a clump of shrubs on which these 
birds usually perched for the night. But he felt the effect 
of lack of sleep so much and his thoughts were so occupied 
with the little girl’s illness that a whole flock of guinea- 
fowl passed close by him in a trot, one after another, 
bound for the watering place, and he did not observe them 
at all. This happened also because he was continually 
praying. He thought of the slaying of Gebhr, Chamis, 
and the Bedouins, and lifting his eyes upwards he said 
with a voice choking with tears: 

“T did this for Nell, oh Lord, for Nell! For I could not 
free her otherwise; but if it is a sin, punish me, but let her 
regain her health.” 

On the way he met Kali, who had gone to see whether 
the wicked Mzimu ate the meat offered to him the pre- 
vious night. The young negro, loving the little “bibi,” 
prayed also for her, but he prayed in an entirely different 
fashion. He particularly told the wicked Mzimu that 
if the “bibi’’ recovered her health he would bring him a 
piece of meat every day, but if she died, though he feared 
him and though he might afterwards perish, he would 
first so flay his hide that the wicked Mzimu would remem- 
ber it for ages. He felt greatly encouraged when the 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 291 


meat deposited the previous night disappeared. It might 
indeed have been carried away by some jackal, but the 
Mzimu might assume the shape of a jackal. 

Kali informed Stas of this propitious incident; the 
latter, however, stared at him as if he did not understand 
him at all and went on further. Passing a clump of shrubs 
in which he did not find any guinea-fowl, he drew nearer 
the river. Its banks were overgrown with tall trees from 
which were suspended like long stockings the nests of 
titmice, beautiful little yellow birds with black wings, 
and also wasps’ nests resembling big roses, but colored 
like gray blotting-paper. In one place the river formed an 
expansion a few score paces wide, overgrown in part by 
papyrus. On this expansion aquatic birds always swarmed. 
There were storks just like our European storks, and 
storks with thick bills ending with a hook, and birds black 
as velvet, with legs red as blood, and flamingoes and 
ibises, and white spoon-bills with bills like spoons, and 
cranes with crowns on their heads, and a multitude of 
curlews, variegated and gray as mice, flying quickly back 
and forth as if they were tiny sylvan sprites on long, thin, 
snipe-like legs. 

Stas killed two large ducks, beautiful, cinnamon colored, | 
and treading upon dead butterflies, of which thousands 
strewed the bank, he first looked around carefully to 
see whether there were any crocodiles in the shallows, 
after which he waded into the water and lifted his quarry. 
The shots had dispersed the birds; there remained only 
two marabous, standing between ten and twenty paces 
away and plunged in reverie. They were like two old 
men with bald heads pressed between the shoulders. They 
did not move at all. The boy gazed for a while at the 
loathsome fleshy pouches hanging from their breasts, 
and afterwards, observing that the wasps were beginning 


292 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


to circle around him more and more frequently, he re- 
turned to the camping place. 

Nell still slept; so handing the ducks to Mea, he flung 
himself upon a saddle-cloth and fell into a sound sleep. 
They did not wake until the afternoon — he first and 
Nell later. The little girl felt somewhat stronger and 
the strong broth revived her strength still more; she 
rose and left the tree, desiring to look at the King and 
at the sun. 

But only now in the daylight could be seen what havoc 
that one night’s fever had wrought in her. Her complex- 
ion was yellow and transparent; her lips were black; there 
were circles furrowed under her eyes, and her face was 
as though it had aged. Even the pupils of her eyes ap- 
peared paler than usual. It appeared also, despite 
her assurances to Stas that she felt quite strong and not- 
withstanding the large cup of broth which she drank 
immediately after awakening, that she could barely 
reach the ravine unaided. Stas thought with despair of 
the second attack and that he had neither medicine nor 
any remedy by which he could prevent it. 

In the meantime the rain poured a dozen or more times 
a day, increasing the humidity of the air. 


xX 


Days of suspense, heavy and full of fear, began. The 
second attack did not come until a week after and was 
not so strong as the first, but after it Nell felt still weaker. 
She wasted and grew so thin that she no longer was a 
little girl, but the shadow of a little girl. The flame of 
her life flickered so faintly that it appeared sufficient to 
blow at it to extinguish it. Stas understood that death 
did not have to wait for a third attack to take her and 
he expected it any day or any hour. 

He himself became emaciated and black, for misfortune 
exceeded his strength and his reason. So, gazing on her 
waxen countenance, he said to himself each day: “For 
this I guarded her like the eye in the head; in order to’ 
bury her here in the jungle.” And he did not understand 
why it should be so. At times he reproached himself 
that he had not guarded her enough, that he had not been 
sufficiently kind to her, and at such moments such sorrow 
seized his heart that he wanted to gnaw his own fingers. 
Clearly there was too much of woe. 

And Nell now slept almost continuously and it may 
be that this kept her alive. Stas woke her a few times a 
day to give her nourishment. Then, as often as it did 
not rain, she begged him to carry her into the open air 
for now she could not stand on her own feet. It happened, 
moreover, that she fell asleep in his arms. She knew now 
that she was very sick and might at any moment die. 


294. IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


In moments of greater animation she spoke of this to 
Stas, and always with tears, for she feared death. 

Once she said: “I shall not now return to papa, but 
tell him that I was very, very sorry — and beg him to 
come to me.” 

“You will return,” Stas answered. 

And he could not say anything more as he wanted to 
wail. 

And Nell continued in a scarcely audible, dreamy 
voice: 

“And papa will come and you will come sometime, 
will you not?” 

At this thought a smile brightened the little wan face, 
but after a while she said in a still lower tone: 

“But I am so sorry!” 

Saying this she rested her little head upon his shoulder 
and began to weep. He mastered his pain, pressed her to 
his bosom, and replied with animation: 

“Nell, I will not return without you — and I do not 
at all know what I would do in this world without 
you.” 

Silence followed, during which Nell again fell asleep. 

Stas carried her to the tree, but he had barely gone 
outside when from the summit of the promontory Kali 
came running and waving his hands; he began to shout, 
with an agitated and frightened face: 

“Great master! Great master!” 

“What do you want?” Stas asked. 

And the negro, stretching out his hand and pointing to 
the south, said: 

“Smoke!” 

Stas shaded his eyes with his palm and straining his 
sight in the direction indicated really saw in the ruddy 
luster of the sun, which now stood low, a streak of smoke 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 295 


rising far in the jungle, amid the top of two still more 
distant hills which were quite high. 

Kali trembled all over, for he well remembered his 
horrible slavery with the dervishes; he was certain that 
this was their camping place. To Stas, also, it seemed that 
this could not be any one else than Smain, and at first he 
too became terribly frightened. Only this was wanting! 
Besides Nell’s fatal disease, the dervishes! And again 
slavery, and again a return to Fashoda or to Khartim, 
under the hand of the Mahdi or the lash of Abdullahi. 
If they caught them Nell would die at once, while he 
would remain a slave the rest of the days of his life; 
and if he did escape of what use was liberty to him with- 
out Nell? How could he look into the eyes of his father 
or Mr. Rawlinson, if the dervishes after her death should 
fling her to the hyenas. He himself would not even be 
able to say where her grave was. 

Such thoughts flitted through his head like lightning. 
Suddenly he felt an insurmountable desire to look at Nell, 
and directed his steps towards the tree. On the way he 
instructed Kali to extinguish the fire and not to dare to 
light it during the night, after which he entered the tree. 

Nell was not sleeping and felt better. She at once 
communicated this news to Stas. Saba lay close to her 
and warmed her with his huge body, while she stroked 
his head lightly, smiling when he caught with his jaws the 
subtile dust of the decayed wood floating in the streak 
of light which the last rays of the setting sun formed in 
the tree. She apparently was in a better frame of mind, 
as after a while she addressed Stas with quite a lively mien. 

“And perhaps I may not die.” 

“You surely will not die,” Stas replied; “since after 
the second attack you feel stronger, the third will not come 
ac al: 


296 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


But she began to blink with her eyelids as if she were 
meditating over something and said: 

“Tf I had bitter powders like that which made me feel 
so well after the night with the lions — do you remember? 
— then I would not think the least bit of dying — not 
even so much!” 

And she indicated upon her little finger just how little 
in that case she would be prepared to die. 

“Ah!” Stas declared, “I do not know what I would 
not give for a pinch of quinine.” 

And he thought that if he had enough of it, he would 
at once treat Nell with two powders, even, and then he 
would wrap her in plaids, seat her before him on a horse, 
and start immediately in a direction opposite to the one in 
which the camp of the dervishes was located. 

In the meantime the sun set and the jungle was sud- 
denly plunged in darkness. 

The little girl chattered yet for half an hour, after 
which she fell asleep and Stas meditated further about 
the dervishes and quinine. His distressed but resourceful 
mind began to labor and form plans, each one bolder and 
more audacious than the other. First he began to pon- 
der over whether that smoke in the southern direction 
necessarily came from Smain’s camp. It might indeed be 
dervishes, but it also might be Arabs from the ocean 
coast, who made great expeditions into the interior for 
ivory and slaves. These had nothing in common with 
the dervishes who injured their trade. The smoke might 
also be from a camp of Abyssinians or from some negro 
village at the foot-hills which the slave hunters had not 
yet reached. Would it not be proper for him to satisfy 
himself upon this point? 

, The Arabs from Zanzibar, from the vicinity of Bagamoyo, 
from Witu and from Mombasa, and in general from the 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 297 


territory bordering on the ocean, were people who con- 
tinuously came in contact with white men; so who knows 
whether for a great reward they would not conduct them 
to the nearest port? Stas knew perfectly well that he 
could promise such a reward and that they would believe 
his promise. There occurred to him another idea which 
touched him to the depth. In Khartiim he saw that 
many of the dervishes, particularly those from Nubia, 
suffered fever almost as badly as the white people and that 
they cured themselves with quinine which they stole 
from the Europeans, and if it were hidden by renegade 
Greeks or Copts they purchased it for its weight in gold. 
So it might be expected that the Arabs from the coast 
would be certain to have it. 

“T shall go,’”’ Stas said to himself, “TI shall go, for Nell.” 

And pondering more and more strongly upon the situ- 
ation he, in the end, came to the conclusion that even if 
that was Smain’s division, it was incumbent for him to 
go. He recollected that on account of the complete 
rupture of relations between Egypt and the Sudan, Smain 
in all probability knew nothing about their abduction 
from Fayim. 

Fatma could not have had an understanding with him; 
therefore that abduction was her individual scheme, 
executed with the aid of Chamis, son of Chadigi, together 
with Idris, Gebhr, and the two Bedouins. Now these men 
did not concern Smain for the simple reason that among 
them he knew only Chamis, and the others he never saw 
in his life. He was concerned only about his own children 
and Fatma. But he might long for them now, and might 
be glad to return to them, particularly if in the service 
of the Mahdi he apparently did not meet with great for- 
tune, since instead of commanding powerful troops or 
governing some vast region he was compelled to catch 


298 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


slaves the Lord knew where — far beyond Fashoda. “I 
will say to him,” Stas thought, “that if you will lead us 
to any seaport on the Indian Ocean and return with 
us to Egypt, the government will pardon all your offenses; 
you will rejoin Fatma and the children, and besides, Mr. 
Rawlinson will make you rich; if not you will never again 
see your children and Fatma in your life.” 

And he was certain that Smain would consider well 
before he rejected such an arrangement. 

Of course this was not altogether safe; it might even 
prove disastrous, but it might become a plank of rescue 
from that African whirlpool. Stas in the end began to 
wonder why the possibility of meeting with Smain should 
have frightened him at first and, as he was anxious for 
quick relief for Nell, he determined to go, even that night. 

It was easier, however, to say than to do it; it is 
one thing to sit at night in the jungle near a good fire 
behind a thorny zareba, and another to set forth amid 
darkness, in high grass, in which at such a time the lion, 
panther, and leopard, not to speak of hyenas and jackals, 
are seeking their prey. The boy, however, recollected 
the words of the young negro at the time when he went 
during the night to search for Saba and, having returned, 
said to him, “Kali feared but Kali went.” And he re- 
peated to himself, “I shall fear, but I will go.” 

He waited, however, until the moon rose, as the night 
was extraordinarily dark, and only when the jungle was 
silvered by her luster did he call Kali and say: 

“Kali, take Saba into the tree, close the entrance with 
thorns, and guard the little lady with Mea as the eye in 
your head, while I go and see what kind of people are 
in that camp.” 

“Great master, take Kali with you and the rifle which 
kills bad animals. Kali does not want to stay.” 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 299 


“You shall stay!” Stas said firmly. “And I forbid 
you to go with me.” 

After which he became silent, but presently said in a 
somewhat hollow voice: 

“Kali, you are faithful and prudent, so I am confident 
that you will do what I tell you. If I should not return 
and the little lady should die, you will leave her in the 
tree, but around the tree you will build a high zareba and 
on the bark you will carve a great sign like this.” 

And taking two bamboos, he formed them into a cross, 
after which he continued thus: ? 

“Tf, however, I do not return and the ‘ bibi’ does not die 
you shall honor her and serve her faithfully, and after- 
wards you shall conduct her to your people, and tell the 
Wahima warriors that they should go continually to the 
east until they reach the great sea. There you will find 
white men who will give you many rifles, much powder, 
beads, and wire, and as much cloth as you are able to carry. 
Do you understand?” 

And the young negro threw himself on his knees, em- 
braced Stas’ limbs, and began to repeat mournfully: 

“Bwana kubwa! You will return! You will return!” 

Stas was deeply touched by the black boy’s devotion, so 
he leaned over him, placed his hand on his head, and said: 

“Go into the tree, Kali — and may God bless you!” 

Remaining alone, he deliberated for a while whether 
to take the donkey with him. This was the safer course, 
for lions in Africa as well as the tigers in India, in case 
they meet a man riding a horse or donkey, always charge 
at the animal and not at the man. But he propounded 
to himself the question, who in such case will carry Nell’s 
tent and on what will she herself ride? After this obser- 
vation he rejected at once the idea of taking the donkey 
and set off on foot in the jungle. 


300 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


The moon already rose higher in the heavens; it was 
therefore considerably lighter. Nevertheless, the diffi- 
culties began as soon as the boy plunged into the 
grass, which grew so high that a man on _ horseback 
could easily be concealed in it. Even in the daytime one 
could not see a step ahead in it, and what of the night, 
when the moon illuminated only the heights, and below 
everything was steeped in a deep shade? Under such 
conditions it was easy to stray and walk around in 
a circle instead of moving forward. Stas, nevertheless, 
was cheered by the thought that in the first place the 
camp, towards which he went, was at most three or four 
English miles distant from the promontory, and again that 
it appeared between the tops of two lofty hills; there- 
fore, by keeping the hills in sight, one could not stray. 
But the grass, mimosa, and acacias veiled everything. 
Fortunately every few score of paces there stood white-ant 
hillocks, sometimes between ten and twenty feet high. 
Stas carefully placed the rifle at the bottom of each hillock; 
afterwards climbed to the top, and descrying the hills 
blackly outlined on the background of the sky, descended 
and proceeded farther. 

Fear seized him only at the thought of what would 
happen if clouds should veil the moon and the sky, for 
then he would find himself as though in a subterranean 
cavern. But this was not the only danger. The jungle 
in the night time, when, amidst the stillness can be heard 
every sound, every step, and almost the buzz which the 
insects creeping over the grass make, is downright ter- 
rifying. Fear and terror hover over it. Stas had to pay 
heed to everything, to listen, watch, look around in every 
direction, have his head on screws, as it were, and have 
the rifle ready to fire at any second. Every moment it 
seemed to him that something was approaching, skulking, 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 301 


hiding in ambush. From time to time he heard the grass 
stir and the sudden clatter of animals running away. 
He then conjectured that he had scared some antelopes 
which, notwithstanding posted guards, sleep watchfully, 
knowing that many yellow, terrible hunters are seeking 
them at that hour in the darkness. But now something 
big is darkly outlined under the umbrella-like acacia. 
It may be a rock and it may be a rhinoceros or a buffalo 
which, having scented a man, will wake from a nap and 
rush at once to attack him. Yonder again behind a black 
bush can be seen two glittering dots. Heigh! Rifle to 
face! That is a lion! No! Vain alarm! Those are fire- 
flies for one dim light rises upwards and flies above the 
grass like a star shooting obliquely. Stas climbed onto 
ant-hillocks, not always to ascertain whether he was 
going in the right direction, but to wipe the cold per- 
spiration from his brow, to recover his breath, and to 
wait until his heart, palpitating too rapidly, calmed. 
In addition he was already so fatigued that he was 
barely able to stand on his feet. 

But he proceeded because he felt that he must do so, 
to save Nell. After two hours he got to a place, thickly 
strewn with stones, where the grass was lower and it 
was considerably lighter. The lofty hills appeared as 
distant as before; on the other hand nearer were the 
rocky ridges running transversely, beyond which the 
second, higher hill arose, while both evidently enclosed 
some kind of valley or ravine similar to the one in which 
the King was confined. 

Suddenly, about three or four hundred paces on the 
right, he perceived on the rocky wall the rosy reflection 
of a flame. 

He stood still. His heart again beat so strongly that 
he almost heard it amid the stillness of the night. Whom 


302 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


would he see below? Arabs from the eastern coast? 
Smain’s dervishes, or savage negroes who, escaping from 
their native villages, sought protection from the dervishes 
in the inaccessible thickets of the hills? Would he find 
death, or slavery, or salvation for Nell? 

It was imperative to ascertain this. He could not 
retreat now, nor did he desire to. After a while he stepped 
in the direction of the fire, moving as quietly as possible and 
holding the breath in his bosom. Having proceeded thus 
about a hundred paces he unexpectedly heard from the 
direction of the jungle the snorting of horses and again 
stopped. In the moonlight he counted five horses. For 
the dervishes this would not be enough, but he assumed 
that the rest were concealed in the high grass. He was 
only surprised that there were no guards near them nor 
had these guards lighted any fires above to scare away 
the wild animals. But he thanked the Lord that it was 
so, as he could proceed farther without detection. 

The luster on the rocks became more and more distinct. 
Before a quarter of an hour passed, Stas found himself 
at a place at which the opposite rock was most illuminated, 
which indicated that at its base a fire must be burning. 

Then, crawling slowly, he crept to the brink and glanced 
below. | 

The first object which struck his eyes was a big white 
tent; before the tent stood a canvas field bed, and on it 
lay a man attired in a white European dress. A little 
negro, perhaps twelve years old, was adding dry fuel to 
the fire which illumined the rocky wall and a row of 
negroes sleeping under it on both sides of the tent. 

Stas in one moment slid down the declivity to the 
bottom of the ravine. 


XI 


For some time from exhaustion and emotion he could 
not utter a word, and stood panting heavily before the 
man lying on the bed, who also was silent and stared at 
him with an amazement bordering almost upon uncon- 
sciousness. 

Finally the latter exclaimed: 

“Nasibu! Are you there?”’ 

“Yes, master,” answered the negro lad. 

“Do you see any one — any one standing there before 
me?”’ 

But before the boy was able to reply Stas recovered 
his speech. 

“Sir,” he said, “my name is Stanislas Tarkowski. 
With little Miss Rawlinson I have escaped from der- 
vish captivity and we are hiding in the jungle. But Nell 
is terribly sick; and for her sake I beg for help.” 

The unknown continued to stare at him, blinking with 
his eyes, and then rubbed his brow with his hand. 

“T not only see but hear!” he said to himself. “This 
is no illusion! What? Help? I myself am in need of 
help. I am wounded.” 

Suddenly, however, he shook himself as though out of 
a wild dream or torpor, gazed more consciously, and, 
with a gleam of joy in his eyes, said: 

“A white boy! —I again see a white one! I welcome 
you whoever you are. Did you speak of some sick girl? 
What do you want of me?” 


304 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


Stas repeated that the sick girl was Nell, the daughter 
of Mr. Rawlinson, one of the directors of the Canal; that 
she already had suffered from two attacks of fever and 
must die if he did not obtain quinine to prevent the third. 

“Two attacks — that is bad!” answered the unknown. 
“But I can give you as much quinine as you want. I 
have several jars of it which are of no use to me now.” 

Speaking thus, he ordered little Nasibu to hand him a 
big tin box, which apparently was a small traveling drug 
store; he took out of it two rather large jars filled with 
a powder and gave them to Stas. 

“This is half of what I have. It will last you for a 
year even.” 

Stas had a desire to shout from sheer delight, so he 
began to thank him with as much rapture as if his own 
life were involved. 

The unknown nodded his head several times, and said: 

“Good, good, my name is Linde; I am a Swiss from 
Zurich. Two days ago I met with an accident. A wart- 
hog wounded me severely.” 

Afterwards he addressed the lad: 

“Nasibu, fill my pipe.” 

Then he said to Stas: 

“Tn the night-time the fever is worse and my mind be- 
comes confused. But a pipe clears my thoughts. Truly, 
did you say that you had escaped from dervish captivity 
and are hiding in the jungle? Is it so?”’ 

 V GS, Sit. sb Said it: 

“ And what do you intend to do ?” 

“Fly to Abyssinia.” 

“You will fall into the hands of the Mahdists; whose 
divisions are prowling all along the boundary.” 

“We cannot, however, undertake anything else.” 

“Ah, a month ago I could still have given you aid. 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 305 


But now I am alone —dependent only upon Divine 
mercy and that black lad.” 

Stas gazed at him with astonishment. 

“And this camp?” 

“Tt is the camp of death.” 

“ And those negroes?” 

“Those negroes are sleeping and will not awaken any 
more.” 

“T do not understand —” 

“They are suffering from the sleeping sickness.!_ Those 
are men from beyond the Great Lakes where this terrible 
disease is continually raging and all fell prey to it, ex- 
cepting those who previously died of small-pox. Only 
that boy remains to me.” 

Stas, just before, was struck by the fact that at the time 
when he slid into the ravine not a negro stirred or even 
quivered, and that during the whole conversation all 
slept — some with heads propped on the rock, others 
with heads drooping upon their breasts. 

“They are sleeping and will not awaken any more?” 
he asked, as though he had not yet realized the significance 
of what he had heard. 

And Linde said: 

“Ah! This Africa is a charnel house.” 

But further conversation was interrupted by the stamp- 
ing of the horses, which, startled at something in the jungle, 
came jumping with fettered legs to the edge of the valley, 
desiring to be nearer to the men and the light. 

“That is nothing — those are horses,” the Swiss said. 
“T captured them from the Mahdists whom I routed a 

1 Recent investigations have demonstrated that this disease 
is inoculated in people by the bite of the same fly “‘tsetse’’? which 
kills oxen and horses. Nevertheless its bite causes the sleeping 


sickness only in certain localities. During the time of the Mahdist 
rebellion the cause of the disease was unknown. 


306 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


few weeks ago. There were three hundred of them; per- 
haps more. But they had principally spears, and my 
men Remingtons, which now are stacked under that 
wall, absolutely useless. If you need arms or ammuni- 
tion take all that you want. Take a horse also; you 
will return sooner to your patient — how old is she?” 

“Eight,” Stas replied. 

“Then she is still a child— Let Nasibu give you tea, 
rice, coffee, and wine for her. Take of the supplies what- 
ever you want, and to-morrow come for more.”’ 

“T shall surely return to thank you once more from my 
whole heart and help you in whatever I can.” 

And Linde said: 

“It is good even to gaze at a European face. If you 
had come earlier I would have been more conscious. Now 
the fever is taking hold of me, for I see double. Are there 
two of you above me? No, I know that you are alone 
and that this is only the fever. Ah! this Africa!” 

And he closed his eyes. 

A quarter of an hour later Stas started to return from 
this strange camp of sleep and death, but this time on 
horseback. The night was still dark, but now he paid no 
heed to any dangers which he might encounter in the high 
grass. He kept, however, more closely to the river, 
assuming that both ravines must lead to it. After all 
it was considerably easier to return, as in the stillness 
of the night came from a distance the roar of the water- 
fall; the clouds in the western sky were scattered and, 
besides the moon, the zodiacal light shone strongly. 
The boy pricked the horse on the flanks with the broad 
Arabian stirrups and rode at almost breakneck speed, 
saying in his soul: “ What are lions and panthers to me? 
I have quinine for my little one!”” And from time to time 
he felt the jars with his hand, as if he wanted to assure 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 307 


himself that he actually possessed them and that it was 
not all a dream. Various thoughts and pictures flitted 
through his brain. He saw the wounded Swiss to whom 
he felt immense gratitude and whom he pitied so heartily 
that, at first, during their conversation, he took him for 
a madman; he saw little Nasibu with skull as round 
as a ball, and the row of sleeping “ pagahs,” and the bar- 
rels of the Remingtons stacked against the rock and 
glistening in the fire. He was almost certain that the 
battle which Linde mentioned was with Smain’s division, 
and it seemed strange to him to think that Smain might 
have fallen. 

With these visions mingled the constant thought of 
Nell. He pictured to himself how surprised she would 
be to behold on the morrow a whole jar of quinine, and 
that she probably would take him for a performer of 
miracles. “Ah,” he said to himself, “if I had acted like 
a coward and had not gone to ascertain where that smoke 
came from I would not have forgiven myself during the 
rest of my life.” 

After the lapse of a little less than an hour the roar 
of the waterfall became quite distinct and, from the croak- 
ing of frogs, he conjectured that he already was near 
the expansion where he had previously shot aquatic birds. 
In the moon’s luster he even recognized in the distance 
the trees standing above it. Now it was necessary to 
exercise greater caution, as that overflow formed at the 
same time a watering place to which all the animals of 
the locality came, for the banks of the river elsewhere 
were steep and inaccessible. But it was already late and 
the beasts of prey evidently hid in rocky dens after their 
nocturnal quests. The horse snorted a little, scenting 
the recent tracks of lions or panthers; nevertheless, Stas 
rode on happily, and a moment later saw on the high 


308 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


promontory the big black silhouette of “Cracow.” For 
the first time in Africa he had a sensation as if he had 
arrived at home. 

Hereckoned that he would find all asleep, but he reckoned 
without Saba, who began to bark loud enough to awaken 
even the dead. Kali also appeared before the tree and 
exclaimed: 

“Bwana kubwa! On horseback!” 

In his voice there was, however, more joy than surprise, 
as he believed in Stas’ powers so much that if the latter 
had even created a horse, the black boy would not have 
been very much surprised. 

But as joy in negroes manifests itself in laughter, he 
began to slap his thighs with his palms and laugh like 
a madman. 

“Tie this horse,’ Stas said. “Remove the supplies 
from him, build a fire, and boil water.”’ 

After this he entered the tree. Nell awoke also and 
began to call him. Stas, drawing aside the canvas wall, 
saw by the light of the fire-pot her pale face, and thin, 
white hands lying on the plaids with which she was 
covered. 

“How do you feel, little one?”’ he asked merrily. 

“Good, and I slept well until Saba awoke me. But 
why do you not sleep?” 

“ Because I rode away.” 

“Where?” 

“To a drug store.” 

“To a drug store?” 

“Yes, for quinine.” 

The little girl did not indeed relish very much the taste 
of the quinine powders which she had taken before, but, 
as she regarded them as an infallible remedy for all the 
diseases in the world, she sighed and said: 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 309 


“T know that you have not got any quinine.” 

Stas raised one of the jars towards the fire-pot and 
asked with pride and joy: 

“And what is this?” 

Nell could scarcely believe her eyes, while he said 
hurriedly, with beaming countenance: 7 

“Now you will be well! I shall wrap up at once a 
large dose in a fresh fig peel and you must swallow it. 
And you shall see with what you will drink it down. Why 
are you staring at me like at a green cat? Yes! I havea 
second jar. I got both from a white man, whose camp is 
about four miles from here. I have just returned from 
him. His name is Linde and he is wounded; neverthe- 
less, he gave me a lot of good things. I went to him 
on foot, but I returned on horseback. You may think 
it is pleasant to go through the jungle at night. Brr! 
I would not go a second time for anything, unless I again 
needed quinine.” 

Saying this, he left the astonished little maid while 
he went to the “men’s quarters,” selected from a supply 
of figs the smallest one, hollowed it out, and filled the 
center with quinine, taking care that the dose should 
not be greater than those powders which he had received 
in Khartim. After which he left the tree, poured tea 
into a utensil with water, and returned to Nell with the 
remedy. 

And during that time she reflected upon everything 
which had happened. She was immensely curious as to 
who that white man was. From whence did Stas get the 
information about him? Would he come to them, and 
would he travel along with them? She did not doubt 
that since Stas had secured the quinine she would regain 
her health. But Stas during the night-time went through 
the jungle as if it were nothing. Nell, notwithstanding 


310 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


her admiration for him, had considered, not reflecting 
much over it, that everything he did for her was to 
be taken as a matter of course, for it is a plain thing 
that an older boy ought to protect a little girl. But 
now it occurred to her that she would have perished 
long ago; that he cared for her immensely; that he 
gratified her and defended her as no other boy of his 
age would have done or knew how to do. So great grati- 
tude overflowed in her little heart, and when Stas entered 
again and leaned over her with the remedy she threw 
her thin arms around his neck and hugged him heartily. 

“Stas, you are very kind to me.” 

While he replied: 

“And to whom am I to be kind? Why, I like that! 
Take this medicine!”’ 

Nevertheless he was happy; as his eyes glistened with 
satisfaction and again with joy and pride, he called, turn- 
ing to the opening: 

“Mea, serve the ‘ bibi’ with tea, now!” 


XII 


Stas did not start for Linde’s camp the following day 
until noon, for he had to rest after the previous night’s 
adventure. On the way, anticipating that the sick man 
might need fresh meat, he killed two guinea-fowl, which 
were really accepted with gratitude. Linde was very 
weak but fully conscious. Immediately after the greeting 
he inquired about Nell, after which he warned Stas that 
he should not regard quinine as an entirely sure cure for 
the fever and that he should guard the little one from 
the sun, from getting wet, from staying during the night 
in low and damp places, and finally from bad water. 
Afterwards Stas related to him, at his request, his own 
and Nell’s history from the beginning to the arrival in 
Khartiim and the visit to the Mahdi; and afterwards 
from Fashoda to their liberation from Gebhr’s hands, 
and their further wanderings. The Swiss gazed during 
the time of this narration with growing interest, often 
with evident admiration, and when the narrative reached 
an end he lit his pipe, surveyed Stas from head to foot, 
and said as if in a reverie: 

“Tf in your country there are many boys like you, then 
they will not be able to manage you very easily.” 

And after a moment of silence he continued: 

“The best proof of the truth of your words is this, 
that you are here, that you are standing before me. And 
believe what I tell you: your situation is terrible; the 


312 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


road, in any direction, is likewise terrible; who knows, 
however, whether such a boy as you will not save your- 
self and that child from this gulf.” 

“Tf Nell only will be well, then I shall do whatever 
I can,” exclaimed Stas. 

“But spare yourself, for the task which you have before 
you is beyond the strength of a mature person. Do you 
know where you are at present?” 

“No, I remember that after our departure from Fashoda 
we crossed, near a great settlement called Deng, some kind 
of a river.” 

“Sobat,”’ interrupted Linde. 

“In Deng there were quite a number of dervishes and 
negroes. But beyond Sobat we entered into a region of 
jungles and proceeded whole weeks until we reached 
the ravine, in which you know what happened —” 

“T know. Afterwards you went along the ravine until 
you reached this river. Now listen to me; it appears 
that after crossing the Sobat with the Sudanese you 
turned to the southeast, but more to the south. You 
are at present in a locality unknown to travelers and 
geographers. The river, near which we are at present, 
runs northwest, and in all probability falls into the Nile. 
I say in all probability, for I myself do not know and now 
cannot satisfy myself upon that point, though I turned 
from the Karamojo Mountains to investigate its source. 
After the battle, I heard from the dervish prisoners that 
it is called Ogeloguen, but even they were not certain, 
as they venture into this region only for slaves. The 
Shilluk tribe occupy this generally sparsely settled country, 
but at present the region is desolate, as the population 
partly died of smallpox, partly was swept away by the 
Mahdists, and partly sought refuge in the Karamojo 
Mountains. In Africa it often happens that a region 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 313 


thickly settled to-day becomes desolate to-morrow. Ac- 
cording to my calculations you are a hundred and eighty- 
six miles, more or less, from Lado. You might escape to 
the south to Emin, but as Emin himself is in all probability 
besieged by the dervishes, that is not to be thought of.” 

“And to Abyssinia?” Stas asked. 

“That is also about the same distance away. Yet 
you must bear in mind that the Mahdi is waging war 
against the whole world and, therefore, against Abyssinia. 
I know also from the prisoners that along the western 
and southern frontiers greater or smaller hordes of der- 
vishes are prowling and you might therefore easily fall 
into their hands. Abyssinia indeed is a Christian empire, 
but the savage southern tribes are either pagan or profess 
Islam and for that reason secretly favor the Mahdi, — 
No, you will not get through that way.” 

“Well, what am I to do, and where shall I go with Nell?” 
Stas asked. 

“T told you that your situation is extremely difficult,” 
Linde said. 

Saying this he put both hands to his head and for a long 
time lay in silence. 

“The ocean,” he finally said, “is over five hundred and 
sixty miles from here; you would have to cross moun- 
tains, go among savage peoples, and even pass over deserts, 
for it is probable that there are waterless localities. But 
the country nominally belongs to England. You might 
chance upon transports of ivory to Kismayu, to Lamu 
and Mombasa — perhaps upon missionary expeditions. 
Realizing that on account of the dervishes I would not 
be able to explore the course of this river because it turns 
to the Nile, I, too, wanted to go eastward to the ocean.” 

“Then we shall return together,” Stas exclaimed. 

“T shall never return. Thewart-hog has so badly torn my 


314 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


muscles and veins that an infection of the blood must 
set in. Only a surgeon could save me by amputating 
my leg. Now everything has coagulated and become 
numb, but during the first days I bit my hands from 
pain —”’ 

“You surely will get well.” 

“No, my brave lad, I surely will die and you will cover 
me well with stones, so that the hyenas cannot dig me 
out. To the dead it may be all the same, but during life 
it is unpleasant to think of it. It is hard to die so far 
away from your own —” 

Here his eyes were dimmed as though with a mist, 
after which he continued thus: 

“But I already have become resigned to the idea — 
so let us speak about you, not about me. I will give 
you this advice. There remains for you only the road 
to the east, to the ocean. But take a good rest before 
starting and gain strength, otherwise your little companion 
will die in the course of a few weeks. Postpone the journey 
until the end of the rainy season, and even longer. The 
first summer months, when the rain ceases to fall and 
the water still covers the marshes, are the healthiest. 
Here, where we are, is a plateau lying about twenty-two 
hundred and eighty-nine feet above the sea. At the 
height of forty-two hundred and fifty feet the fever 
does not exist and when brought from the lower places 
its course is weaker. Take the little English girl up into 
the mountains.” 

Talking apparently fatigued him very much, so he 
again broke off and for some time impatiently brushed 
away the big blue flies; the same kind as those which 
Stas saw among the burnt débris of Fashoda. 

After this he continued thus: 

“Pay close attention to what I tell you. About a 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 315 


day’s journey towards the south there is an isolated 
mountain, not higher than twenty-six hundred and twenty 
feet; it looks like a pan turned upside down. Its sides 
are steep, and the only way of reaching it is by a rocky ridge 
so narrow that in some places two horses can barely pro- 
ceed on it side by side. On its flat top, which is about 
thirty-five hundred feet wide, there was a negro village, 
but the Mahdists slaughtered and carried away the 
residents. It may be that this was done by that same 
Smain whom I defeated, but those slaves I did not cap- 
ture because he had previously despatched them under 
an escort to the Nile. Settle on that mountain. There 
is a spring of excellent water, a few manioc fields, and a 
multitude of bananas. In the huts you will find a great 
many human bones, but do not fear infection from the 
corpses, as after the dervishes there were ants there, which 
drove us from the place. And now, not a living creature! 
Remain in that village a month or two. At sucha height 
there is no fever. Nights are cool. There your little 
one will recover her health, and you will gain new 
strength.” 

“And what am I to do afterwards, and where shall 
I go?” 

“After that it will be as God disposes. Try to get 
through to Abyssinia in places situated farther than 
where the dervishes have reached, or ride to the east — 
I heard that the coast Arabs are reaching some kind of 
lake in their search for ivory which they purchase from 
the Samburu and Wahima tribes.” 

“Wahima? Kali comes from the Wahima tribe.” 

Here Stas began to narrate to Linde the manner in 
which he inherited Kali after Gebhr’s death and that Kali 
had told him that he was the son of the ruler of all the 
Wahimas. 


316 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS _ 


But Linde received this information more indifferently 
than Stas expected. 

“So much the better,” he said, “as he may be helpful 
to you. Among the blacks there are honest souls, though 
as a rule you cannot depend upon their gratitude; they 
are children who forget what happened the day before.” 

“Kali will not forget that I rescued him from Gebhr’s 
hands, I am sure of that.” 

“Perhaps,” Linde said, and pointing at Nasibu added: 
“He also is a good child; take him with you after my 
death.” 

“Do not speak of death, sir.” 

“My dear boy,” answered the Swiss, “I desire it — 
if it would only come without great agony; consider that 
now I am completely unarmed, and if any one of the 
Mahdists whom I routed should accidentally stray to 
this hollow, alone he could stab me like a sheep.” 

Here he pointed to the sleeping negroes. 

“They will not wake any more, or rather — I speak in- 
correctly — all of them awake for a short time before their 
death and in their mental aberration fly to the jungle, 
from which they never more return. Of two hundred 
men, sixty remained tome. Many ran away, many died 
of smallpox, and some fell asleep in other ravines.” 

Stas with pity and awe began to gaze at the sleepers. | 
Their bodies were ashen-hued, which in negroes indicates 
paleness. Some had their eyes closed, others half open; 
but these latter slept deeply, for their eyeballs were not 
susceptible to the light. The knees of some were swollen. 
All were frightfully thin, so that their ribs could be counted 
through their skins. Their hands and feet quivered with- 
out cessation very rapidly. The big blue flies swarmed 
thickly on their eyes and lips. 

“Ts there no help for them?” Stas asked. 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 317 


“There is none. On Victoria Nyanza this disease 
depopulates whole villages. Sometimes more severely, 
sometimes less. It most frequently takes hold of the 
people of the villages situated in the underwood on the 
banks.” 

The sun had passed to the western sky, but still before 
night Linde had related to Stas his history. He was a son 
of amerchant of Zurich. His family came from Karlsruhe, 
but from the year 1848 had resided in Switzerland. His 
father amassed a great fortune in the silk trade. He 
educated his son for an engineer, but young Henry was 
attracted from early youth by travel. After completing 
his studies in a polytechnical school, having inherited 
his father’s entire fortune, he undertook his first journey 
to Egypt. It was before the Mahdi’s time, so he reached 
as faras Khartiim, and hunted with Dongolesein the Sudan. 
After that he devoted himself to the geography of Africa 
and acquired such an expert knowledge of it that many 
geographical societies enrolled him among their members. 
This last journey, which was to end so disastrously for him, 
began in Zanzibar. He had reached as far as the Great 
Lakes and intended to penetrate into Abyssinia along 
the Karamojo Mountains, which up to that time were 
unknown, and from there to proceed to the ocean coast. 
But the natives of Zanzibar refused to go any farther. 
Fortunately, or unfortunately, there was a war between 
the kings of Uganda and Unyoro. Linde rendered im- 
portant services to the king of Uganda, who in exchange 
for them presented him with over two hundred body- 
guards. This greatly facilitated the journey and the 
visit to the Karamojo Mountains, but afterwards smallpox 
appeared in the ranks, after that the dreadful sleeping 
sickness, and finally the wreck of the caravan. 

Linde possessed considerable supplies of various kinds 


318 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


of preserved food, but from fear of the scurvy he hunted 
every day for fresh meat. He was an excellent shot but 
not a sufficiently careful sportsman, and it happened 
that when a few days before he thoughtlessly drew near 
a wild boar which had fallen from his shot, the beast 
started up and tore his legs frightfully, and afterwards 
trampled upon his loins. This happened near the camp and 
in the sight of Nasibu, who, tearing his shirt and making 
bandages of it, was able to check the flow of blood and 
lead the wounded man to the tent. In the foot, however, 
coagulum was formed from the internal flow of blood 
and gangrene threatened the patient. 

Stas insisted upon dressing his wounds and announced 
that he would come daily, or, so as not to leave Nell 
only under the care of the two blacks, he proposed to con- 
vey him to “Cracow,” on saddle-cloth, stretched between 
two horses. 

Linde agreed to the dressing of the wounds, but would 
not agree to the removal. 

“T know,” he said, pointing at the negroes, “that those 
men must die, but until they die, I cannot doom them 
to be torn to pieces alive by hyenas, which during the 
night-time are held back by the fire.” 

- And he began to repeat feverishly: 

“T cannot! Icannot! I cannot!” 

But he became calm immediately, and continued in a 
strange voice: 

“Come here to-morrow morning — I have a request 
to make of you, and if you can perform it, God may lead 
you out of this African gulf, and grant me an easy death. 
I wished to postpone this request until to-morrow, but 
as I may be unconscious to-morrow I make it to-day. 
Take water in some utensil, stop before each one of 
those poor sleeping fellows, sprinkle water over him, and 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 319 


say these words: ‘I baptize thee, in the name of the 
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost!’ ”’ 

Here emotion checked his speech and he became silent. 

“T reproach myself,” he said after a while, “that I did 
not take leave in that manner of those who died of small- 
pox and of those who fell into their final slumber. But 
now death is hovering over me, and I desire to go together 
with even that remnant of my caravan upon the last great 
journey.” 

Saying this he pointed with his hand at the ruddy sky, 
and two tears coursed slowly over his cheeks. 

Stas wept like a beaver. 


XIII 


THE next morning’s sun illuminated a strange spectacle. 
Stas walked along the rocky walls, stopped before each 
negro, moistened his forehead with water, and pronounced 
over him the sacramental words. And they slept with 
quivering hands and limbs, with heads drooping on their 
breasts or tilted upwards, still alive but already resembling 
corpses. And thus took place this baptism of the sleepers 
—in the morning stillness, in the luster of the sun, in 
the desert gloom. The sky that day was cloudless, a 
grayish blue, and as though sad. 

Linde was still conscious, but grew weaker and weaker. 
After the wounds were dressed, he handed to Stas papers 
enclosed in a tin case, entrusted them to his care, and said 
nothing more. He could not eat, but thirst tormented 
him terribly. Before sunset he became delirious. He 
shouted at some imaginary children not to sail too far 
away on some unknown lake, and afterwards fell into 
chills, and clasped his head with both hands. 

On the following day he did not recognize Stas at all, 
and at noon, three days later, he died without recovering 
consciousness. Stas mourned for him sincerely, and 
afterwards with Kali carried him to a neighboring narrow 
cave, the opening of which they closed with thorns and 
stones. 

Stas took little Nasibu to “Cracow,” while Kali was 
ordered to watch the supplies at the camp and keep a 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 321 


big fire burning near the sleepers. Stas bustled continu- 
ally between the two ravines, conveying luggage and 
particularly the rifle cartridges, from which he extracted 
powder and made a mine for the purpose of blasting the 
rock which imprisoned the King. Happily Nell’s health 
improved considerably after daily doses of quinine, and the 
greater variety of food increased her strength. Stas left 
her reluctantly and with fear, and on riding away would 
not permit her to leave the tree and closed the opening with 
thorny acacia boughs. Owing to the pressure of work 
which devolved upon him, he had to leave her, however, 
to the care of Mea, Nasibu, and Saba, upon whom after 
all he depended the most. Rather than to leave her alone 
for any length of time, he preferred to ride a score of 
times each day to Linde’s camp for the luggage. He 
also overworked himself terribly, but his iron constitution 
endured all toil. Nevertheless, not until the tenth day 
were all the packs distributed; those of less value were 
hidden in caves, and those of more importance were brought 
to “Cracow’’; the horses, too, were led onto the promon- 
tory and a considerable number of Remington rifles were 
carried by them, which rifles were to be borne later by 
the King. 

During that time in Linde’s camp, from time to time, 
some of the sleeping negroes would start up in an ante- 
mortem paroxysm of the disease, fly into the jungle, and 
return no more; there were some who died on the spot, 
and others, rushing blindly, crushed their heads on the 
rocks in the camp itself or in the neighborhood. These 
Kali had to bury. After two weeks only one remained, 
but that one soon died in his sleep from exhaustion. 

Finally the time arrived for blasting the rock and the 
liberation of the King. He was so tame now that at Stas’ 
order he seized him with his trunk and placed him on his 


322 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


neck. He also had become accustomed to bearing things 
which Kali pulled on his back over a bamboo ladder. 
Nell insisted that he was too heavily burdened, but in 
truth to him it was like a fly, and only the luggage inherited 
from Linde could form a respectable load for him. With 
Saba, at the sight of whom in the beginning he displayed 
uneasiness, he became quite friendly, and played with 
him in this manner: he would overturn him on the ground 
with his trunk, and Saba would pretend that he was biting. 
At times, however, he would unexpectedly souse the dog 
with water, which act was regarded by the latter as a 
joke of the poorest taste. 

The children were principally pleased because the 
beast, being quick of comprehension and seriously minded, 
understood everything that was wanted of him and 
seemed to comprehend, not only every order, but even 
every nod. In this respect elephants surpass immeas- 
urably all other domesticated animals, and the King, 
beyond comparison, surpassed Saba, who wagged his 
tail to all of Nell’s admonitions and afterwards did what- 
ever he pleased. The King discerned perfectly, for in- 
stance, that the person whom it was most necessary to 
obey was Stas, and that the person about whom all cared 
the most was Nell. So he most carefully complied with 
Stas’ orders, and loved Nell the most. To Kali he paid 
less heed and Mea he slighted entirely. 

Stas, after making the mine, inserted it in the deepest 
fissure, after which he plastered it wholly with clay, 
leaving only a small opening through which hung a fuse 
twisted of dry palm fiber and rubbed with fine powder. 
The decisive moment finally arrived. Stas personally 
lit the powdered rope, after which he ran as far as his 
legs could carry him to the tree in which previously he 
had fastened all the others. Nell was afraid that the 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 323 


King might be frightened too much, but the boy calmed 
her first with the statement that he had selected a day 
on which the morning was accompanied by a thunder- 
storm, and then with the assurance that wild elephants 
often hear the peal of thunder when the heavenly elements 
are unfettered over the jungle. 

They sat, however, with palpitating hearts, counting 
minute after minute. A terrific roar so agitated the at- 
mosphere that the sturdy baobab tree shook from top 
to bottom and remnants of the unscraped decayed wood 
poured upon their heads. Stas, at that moment, jumped 
out of the tree and, avoiding the bends of the ravine, 
ran to the passageway. 

The results of the explosion appeared extraordinary. 
One half of the lime rock was reduced to minute frag- 
ments; the other half had burst into about a score of 
greater or smaller pieces, which the force of the explosion 
scattered to quite a distance. 

The elephant was free. 

The overjoyed boy now rushed to the edge of the ravine, 
where he found Nell with Mea and Kali. The King was 
startled a little and, retreating to the very brink of the 
ravine, stood with uplifted trunk, gazing in the direction 
from which came the sound of such unusual thunder. 
But when Nell began to call to him, when she came to him 
through the passageway, already opened, he became 
entirely quiet. More startled than the King were the 
horses, of which two dashed into the jungle, and it was 
not until sunset that Kali caught them. 

That very same day Nell led the King “out into the 
world.” The colossus followed her obediently, like a 
little puppy, and afterwards bathed in the river, and alone 
secured his supper in this singular manner: bracing his 
head against a big sycamore tree, he broke it like a 


324 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


feeble reed and afterwards carefully nibbled the fruit 
and the leaves. 

Towards evening he returned, however, to the tree, 
and shoving, every little while, his enormous nose through 
an opening, sought for Nell so zealously and persistently 
that Stas finally was compelled to give his trunk a sound 
smack. 

Kali, however, was the most overjoyed with the result 
of that day, for upon his shoulders had fallen the work of 
gathering provisions for the giant, which was by no means 
an easy task. So then Stas and Nell heard him, while 
lighting the fire for supper, sing a new hymn of joy, com- 
posed of the following words: 

“The great master kills men and lions. Yah! Yah! 
The great master crushes rocks. Yah! Yah! The 
elephant, himself, breaks trees and Kali can be idle and 
eat. Yah! Yahi 

The rainy season, or the so-called “massica,’” was 
drawing to an end. There were yet cloudy and rainy 
days, but there were also days entirely clear. Stas decided 
to remove to the mountain indicated to him by Linde, 
and this purpose he carried out soon after the King’s 
liberation. Nell’s health did not present any obstacles 
now, as she felt decidedly better. 

Selecting, therefore, a clear day, they started at noon. 
They were not afraid now that they would stray, as the 
boy had inherited from Linde, among various articles, a 
compass and an excellent field-glass, through which it was 
easy to descry distant localities. Besides Saba and the 
donkey they were accompanied by five pack-horses and 
the elephant. The latter, besides the luggage on his back, 
on his neck bore Nell, who between his two enormous 
ears looked as though she were sitting in a big arm-chair. 
Stas without regret abandoned the promontory and the 


é 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 325 


baobab tree, for it was associated with the recollection 
of Nell’s illness. On the other hand, the little girl gazed 
with sad eyes at the rocks, at the trees, at the water- 
fall, and announced that she would return there when 
she should be “big.” 

Sadder still was little Nasibu, who had loved sincerely 
his former master, and, at present riding on the donkey 
in the rear, he turned around every little while and looked 
with tears in his eyes towards the place where poor Linde 
would remain until the day of the great judgment. 

The wind blew from the north and the day was unusu- 
ally cool. Thanks to this they did not have to stop and 
wait from ten to three, until the greatest heat was over, 
and they could travel a longer distance than is customary 
with caravans. The road was not long, and a few hours 
before sunset Stas espied the mountain towards which 
they were bound. In the distance on the background 
of the sky was outlined a long chain of other peaks, 
and this mountain rose nearer and lonely, like an island in a 
jungle sea. When they rode closer it appeared that its 
steep sides were washed by a loop of the river near which 
they previously had settled. The top was perfectly flat, 
and seen from below appeared to be covered by one dense 
forest. Stas computed that since the promontory, on 
which their baobab tree grew, was about twenty-three 
hundred feet high and the mountain about twenty-six 
hundred feet, they would dwell at an elevation of about 
forty-nine hundred feet and in a climate not much 
warmer, therefore, than that of Egypt. This thought en- 
couraged him and urged him to take possession of this 
natural fortress as quickly as possible. 

They easily found the only rocky ridge which led to 
it and began the ascent. After the lapse of half an hour 
they stood on the summit. That forest seen from below 


326 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


was really a forest — but of bananas. The sight of them 
delighted all exceedingly, not excepting the King, and 
Stas was particularly pleased, for he knew that there is not 
in Africa a more nourishing and healthy food nor a better 
preventative of all ailments than the flour of dried banana 
fruit. There were so many of them that they would 
suffice even for a year. 

Amidst the immense leaves of these plants was hidden 
the negro village; most of the huts had been burned or 
ruined at the time of the attack, but some were still whole. 
In the center stood the largest, belonging at one time to 
the king of the village; it was prettily made of clay, with 
a wide roof forming around the walls a sort of veranda. 
Before the huts lay here and there human bones and 
skeletons, white as chalk, for they had been cleaned by 
the ants of whose invasion Linde spoke. From the time 
of the invasion many weeks had already elapsed; never- 
theless, in the huts could be smelt the leaven of ants, 
and one could find in them neither the big black cock- 
roaches, which usually swarm in all negro hovels, nor 
spiders nor scorpions nor the smallest of insects. 

Everything had been cleaned out by the terrible “siafu.” 
It was also a certainty that there was not on the whole 
mountain-top a single snake, as even boas fall prey to 
these invincible little warriors. 

After conducting Nell and Mea into the chief’s hut, 
Stas ordered Kali and Nasibu to remove the human bones. 
The black boys carried out this order by flinging them 
into the river, which carried them farther. While thus 
employed, however, they found that Linde was mistaken 
in declaring that they would not find a living creature on 
the mountain. The silence which reigned after the seizure 
of the people by the dervishes and the sight of the bananas 
had allured a great number of chimpanzees which built 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 327 


for themselves, on the loftier trees, something like um- 
brellas or roofs, for protection against rain. Stas did 
not want to kill them, but decided to drive them away, 
and with this object in view he fired a shot into the air. 
This produced a general panic, which increased still 
more when after the shot Saba’s furious bass barking re- 
sounded, and the King, incited by the noise, trumpeted 
threateningly. But the apes, to make a retreat, did not 
need to seek the rocky ridge; they dashed over the broken 
rocks towards the river and the trees growing near it with 
such rapidity that Saba’s fangs could not reach any of them. 

The sun had set. Kali and Nasibu built a fire to pre- 
pare for supper. Stas, after unpacking the necessary 
articles for the night, repaired to the king’s hut, which 
was occupied by Nell. It was light and cheerful in the 
hut, for Mea had lit, not the fire-pot which had illuminated 
the interior of the baobab tree, but a large traveling lamp 
inherited from Linde. Nell did not at all feel fatigued 
from the journey in a day so cool, and fell into perfect 
good humor, especially when Stas announced that the 
human bones, which she feared, had been taken away. 

“How nice it is here!’ she exclaimed. “Look, even 
the floor is covered with resin. It will be fine here.” 

“To-morrow I shall fully examine our possessions,” 
he answered; “judging, however, by what I have seen 
to-day, one could dwell here all his life.” 

“Tf our papas were here, then we could. But how will 
you name this possession?” 

“The mountain ought to be called Mount Linde in geog- 
raphies; and let this village be named after you, Nell.” 

“Then I shall be in the geographies?” asked she with 
great glee. 

“You will, you will,’ Stas replied in all seriousness. 


XIV 


THE next day it rained a little, but there were hours when 
the weather was clear, so Stas early in the morning started 
to visit his possessions and at noon had viewed thoroughly 
all the nooks. The inspection on the whole created a 
favorable impression. First, in respect to safety, Mount 
Linde was as though the chosen spot of all Africa. 
Its sides were accessible only to chimpanzees. Neither 
lions nor panthers could climb over its precipitous sides. 
As to the rocky ridge, it was sufficient to place the King 
at its entrances to be able to sleep safely on both ears. 
Stas came to the conclusion that there he could repulse 
even a small division of dervishes, as the road leading 
to the mountain was so narrow that the King could barely 
pass on it and a man armed with a good weapon need 
not permit a living soul to reach the top. In the middle 
of the “island” gushed a spring, cool and pure as crystal, 
which changed into a stream and, running sinuously amid 
the banana groves, finally fell over the steep hanging rocks 
to the river, forming a narrow waterfall resembling a 
white tape. On the southern side of the “island” lay a 
field, covered abundantly with manioc, the roots of which 
supply the negroes with their favorite food, and beyond 
the fields towered immeasurably high cocoa palms with 
crowns in the shape of magnificent plumes of feathers. 
The “island” was surrounded by a sea of jungle and 
the view from it extended over an immense expanse. 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 329 


From the east loomed lividly the Karamojo Mountain 
chain. On the south could also be seen considerable 
elevations, which, to judge from their dark hue, were 
covered with forests. On the other hand, on the western 
side the view ran as far as the horizon’s boundary, at which 
the jungle met the sky. Stas descried, however, with 
the help of the field-glass, numerous hollows and, scattered 
sparsely, mighty trees rising above the grass like churches. 
In places, where the grasses had not yet shot up too high, 
could be perceived even with the naked eye whole herds 
of antelopes and zebras or groups of elephants and buf- 
faloes. Here and there giraffes cut through the dark 
green surface of the sea of grass. Close by the river a 
dozen or more water-bucks disported and others every 
little while thrust their horny heads out of the depths. 
In one place where the water was calm, fishes like those 
which Kali had caught leaped every little while out of the 
water, and, twinkling in the air like silvery stars, fell 
again into the river. Stas promised to himself to bring 
Nell there when the weather had settled and show her 
this whole menagerie. 

On the “island,”’ on the other hand, there were none 
of the larger animals; instead there were a great number 
of butterflies and birds. Big parrots, white as snow, 
with black beaks and yellow crests flew above the bushes 
of the grove; tiny, wonderfully plumaged widow-birds 
swung on the thin manicc stalks, changing color and 
glittering like jewels, and from the high cocoa trees came 
the sounds of the African cuckoos and the gentle cooing 
of the turtle-dove. 

Stas returned from his inspection trip with joy in his 
soul. “The climate,” he said, “is healthy; the security 
is perfect, the provisions are abundant, and the place is 
as beautiful as Paradise.” Returning to Nell’s hut he 


330 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


learned to his surprise that there were larger animals 
on the “island”; two, in fact, for little Nasibu had 
discovered in a banana thicket while Stas was absent a 
goat with a kid, which the dervishes had overlooked. The 
goat was a little wild, but the kid at once became friendly 
with Nasibu, who was immeasurably proud of his discov- 
ery and of the fact that through his instrumentality 
“bibi’’ would now have excellent fresh milk daily. 

“What shall we do now, Stas?” Nell asked one day, 
when she had settled down for good to her housekeeping 
on the “island.” 

“There is plenty of work to do,” the boy answered, 
after which, spreading out the fingers of one hand, he 
began to count on them all the work awaiting them. 

“In the first place Kali and Mea are pagans, and 
Nasibu, as a native of Zanzibar, is a Mohammedan. It 
is necessary to enlighten them, teach them the faith, and 
baptize them. Then, it is necessary to smoke meat for 
our future journey and therefore I must go hunting; 
thirdly, having a good supply of rifles and cartridges, 
I want to teach Kali to shoot in order that there shall 
be two of us to defend you; and fourthly — you probably 
forgot about the kites?” 

“ About the kites?” 

“Yes, those which you will glue, or better still, you 
will sew. That shall be your work.” 

“T don’t want to play only.” 

“That won’t be all play, but work most useful for all. 
Don’t think that it will end with one kite for you must 
be ready for fifty or more.” 

“But why so many?” asked the girl, whose curiosity 
was aroused. 

So Stas began to explain his plans and hopes. He 
would write on each kite their names, how they had es- 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 331 


caped from the hands of the dervishes, where they were, 
and whither they were bound. He would also inscribe 
a request for help and that a message be despatched to 
Port Said. After that he would fly these kites every time 
the wind was blowing from the west to the east. 

“Many of them,” he said, “will fall not far off; many 
will be stopped by the mountains, but let only one of 
them fly to the coast and fall into European hands — 
then we are saved.” 

Nell was enchanted with the idea and announced that 
in comparison with the wisdom of Stas not even that 
of the King could be mentioned. She also was quite 
certain that a multitude of the kites would fly even to 
their papas, and she promised to glue them from morning 
until night. Her joy was so great that Stas, from fear 
that she might get a fever, was compelled to restrain her 
ardor. 

And from that time the work that Stas spoke of began 
in earnest. Kali, who was ordered to catch as many 
leaping fish as possible, ceased to catch them on a line 
and instead made a high fence of thin bamboo, or rather 
something in the nature of a trellis, and this sluice he 
pulled across the river. In the middle of the trellis was 
a big opening through which the fishes had to swim in 
order to get into the free water. In this opening Kali 
placed a strong net plaited of tough palm ropes, and 
in this manner was assured of a bountiful catch. 

He drove fish into the treacherous net with the help 
of the King, who, led into the water, muddied and stirred 
it so that not only those silvery leapers but all other 
creatures vanished as far as they could to an unmuddied 
depth. On account of this, some damage also occurred, 
as several times escaping crocodiles overturned the trellis, 
or at times the King did this himself; cherishing for 


332 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


crocodiles some sort of inbred hatred, he pursued them, 
and when they were in shallow waters he seized them 
with his trunk, tossed them onto the bank, and trampled 
upon them furiously. They found also in the nets tor- 
toises, from which the young exiles made an excellent 
broth. Kali dressed the fish and dried them in the sun, 
while the bladders were taken to Nell, who cut them open, 
stretched them upon a board, and changed them into 
sheets as large as the palms of two hands. 

She was assisted at this by Stas and Mea, as the work 
was not at all easy. The membranes were thicker, indeed, 
than that of the bladders of our river fish, but after dry- 
ing up they became very frail. Stas after some time dis- 
covered that they ought to be dried in the shade. At 
times, however, he lost patience, and if he did not aban- 
don the design of making kites from the membranes it 
was because he regarded them as lighter than paper and 
of better proof against rain. 

The dry season of the year was already approaching, 
but he was uncertain whether rain did not fall during the 
summer — particularly in the mountains. 

However, he glued kites with paper, of which a large 
amount was found among Linde’s effects. The first one, 
big and light, was let go in a western wind; it shot up at 
once very high, and when Stas cut the string, flew, carried 
by a powerful current of air, to the Karamojo mountain 
chain. Stas watched its flight with the aid of the field- 
glass until it became as small as a butterfly, a little speck, 
and until finally it dissolved in the pale azure of the sky. 
The following day he let go others made of fish bladder, 
which shot up still higher, but on account of the trans- 
parency of the membranes soon disappeared entirely 
from view. 

Nell worked, however, with extraordinary zeal, and 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 333 


in the end her little fingers acquired such skill that neither 
Stas nor Mea could keep up with her work. She did 
not lack strength now. The salubrious climate of Mount 
Linde simply regenerated her. The period during which 
the fatal third attack could come, had definitely passed. 
That day Stas hid himself in a banana thicket and wept 
from joy. After a fortnight’s stay on the mountain he 
observed that the “Good Mzimu” looked entirely differ- 
ent from what she did below in the jungle. Her cheeks 
were plumper, her complexion from yellow and transparent 
became rosy again, and from under the abundant tufts 
of hair, merry eyes full of luster gazed upon the world. 
The boy blessed the cool nights, the translucent spring- 
water, the flour of dried bananas, and, above all, Linde. 

He himself became lean and swarthy, which was 
evidence that the fever would not take hold of him, as 
sufferers from that disease do not tan from the sun — 
and he was growing up and becoming manly. Activity 
and physical labor intensified his bravery and strength. 
The muscles of his hands and limbs became like steel. 
Indeed, he was already a hardened African traveler. 
Hunting daily and shooting only with bullets, he became 
also a matchless shot. 

He did not at all fear the wild animals, for he under- 
stood that it was more dangerous for the shaggy-haired and 
the spotted hunters of the jungle to meet him than for 
him to meet them. Once he killed with a single shot a 
big rhinoceros, which, aroused from a light nap under an 
acacia, charged at him unexpectedly. He treated with 
indifference the aggressive African buffaloes, which at 
times disperse whole caravans. 

Aside from the gluing of kites and other daily engage- 
ments, he and Nell also began the work of converting 
Kali, Mea, and Nasibu. But it was harder than they 


334 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


expected. The black trio listened most willingly to the 
instructions, but received them in their own negro way. 
When Stas told them of the creation of the world, about 
paradise and about the snake, the teaching proceeded 
fairly well, but when he related how Cain killed Abel, 
Kali involuntarily stroked his stomach and asked quite 
calmly: 

“Did he eat him afterwards?” 

The black boy always claimed, indeed, that the Wahimas 
never ate people, but evidently memory of that custom 
still lingered among them as a national tradition. 

He likewise could not understand why God did not 
kill the wicked “Mzimu,” and many similar things. His 
conception of good and evil was too African; in conse- 
quence of which there once occurred between the teacher 
and pupil this colloquy: 

“Tell me,”’ asked Stas, “what is a wicked deed? ” 

“Tf any one takes away Kali’s cow,” he answered after 
a brief reflection, “that then is a wicked deed.”’ 

“Excellent!” exclaimed Stas, “and what is a good one?” 

This time the answer came without any reflection: 

“Tf Kali takes away the cow of somebody else, that is 
a good deed.” 

Stas was too young to perceive that similar views of 
evil and good deeds were enunciated in Europe not only 
by politicians but by whole nations. 

Nevertheless, slowly, very slowly, the light dawned 
in their benighted minds, and that which they could 
not comprehend with their heads they understood with 
their warm hearts. After a time they were fitted for the 
baptismal rites, which were performed with great solem- 
nity. The god-parents gave to each child sixteen yards 
of white percale and a string of blue beads. Mea, never- 
theless, felt somewhat disappointed, for in the simplicity 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 339 


of her soul she thought that after the baptism her skin 
would at once turn white, and great was her astonishment 
when she observed that she remained as black as before. 
Nell comforted her, however, with the assurance that now 
she possessed a white soul. 


XV 


Stas instructed Kali also how to shoot from a Remington 
rifle, and this instruction proceeded more easily than the 
teaching of the catechism. After ten days’ shooting at 
a mark and at crocodiles which slept on the sandy river 
banks, the young negro killed a big antelope cob; after 
that a few ariels and finally a wart-hog. The encounter 
with the latter, however, almost resulted in the same kind 
of accident which befell Linde, for the wart-hog, which 
Kali approached carelessly after the shot, started up sud- 
denly and charged at him with tail upraised. Kali, fling- 
ing away the rifle, sought refuge in a tree, where he sat 
until his cries brought Stas, who, however, found the wild 
boar already dead. Stas did not yet permit the boy to 
hunt for buffaloes, lions, and rhinoceroses. He himself did 
not shoot at the elephants which came to the watering 
place, because he had promised Nell that he would never 
kill one. 

When, however, in the morning or during the after- 
noon hours, from above he espied, through the field-glass, 
herds of zebras, hartbeests, ariels, or springboks grazing 
in the jungle, he took Kali with him. During these ex- 
cursions he often questioned the boy about the Wahima 
and Samburu nations, with which, desiring to go eastward, 
to the ocean coast, they necessarily must come in contact. 

“Do you know, Kali,” he asked a certain day, “that 
after twenty days on horseback we could reach your 
country?” 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 337 


“Kali does not know where the Wahimas live,” the young 
negro answered, sadly shaking his head. 

“But I know that they live in the direction in which 
the sun rises in the morning, near some great water.” 

“Yes! Yes!” exclaimed the boy with amazement 
and joy; “Basso-Narok! That in our language means, 
great and black water. The great master knows every- 
thing.” 

“No, for I do not know how the Wahimas would receive 
us if we came to them.” 

“Kali would command them to fall on their faces before 
the great master and before the ‘Good Mzimu.’” 

“ And would they obey?” 

“Kali’s father wears a leopard’s hide — and Kali, too.” 
Stas understood this to mean that Kali’s father was a 
king, and that Kali was his oldest son and the future 
ruler of the Wahimas. 

So he continued to ask further: 

“You told me that white travelers visited you and that 
the older people remember them.” 

“Yes, and Kali has heard that they had a great deal 
of percale on their heads.” 

“Ah!” thought Stas, “so those were not Europeans, 
but Arabs, whom the negroes on account of their 
lighter complexion and white dress mistook for white 
men.” 

Inasmuch, however, as Kali did not remember them 
and could not give any more specific details about them, 
Stas propounded to him other questions. 

“Have not the Wahimas killed any of these men dressed 
in white?” 

“No! Neither the Wahimas nor the Samburus can do 
that.” 

“ Why?” 


338 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


“For they said that if their blood should soak into 
the ground the rain would cease to fall.” 

“T am glad to hear that they believe so.” 

Stas thought for a while, after which he asked: 

“Would the Wahimas go with us to the sea, if I promised 
them a big quantity of percale, beads, and rifles?” 

“Kali goes and the Wahimas also, but the great master 
would first have to subdue the Samburus, who are settled 
on the other side of the water.” 

“And who lives beyond the Samburus?”’ 

“Beyond the Samburus there are no mountains, and 
there is a jungle, and in it lions.” 

With this the conversation ended. Stas more and 
more frequently thought of the great journey towards 
the east, remembering that Linde had said that they 
might meet coast Arabs trading in ivory, and perhaps 
a missionary expedition. He knew that such a journey 
would be a series of terrible hardships for Nell and full 
of new dangers, but he realized that they could not remain 
all their lives on Mount Linde and it was necessary to 
start soon on the journey. The time, after the rainy 
season, when water covers the pestilential swamps, and 
is to be found everywhere, was the most suitable for the 
purpose. The heat could not yet be felt on the high table- 
land; the nights were so cool still that it was necessary 
to be well covered. But in the jungle below it was con- 
‘siderably hotter, and he knew well that intense heat 
would soon come. The rain now seldom bedewed the 
earth and the water level in the river lowered daily. 
Stas assumed that in summer the river would change 
into one of those “khors,” of which he saw many in the 
Libyan Desert, and that only in the very middle of it 
would flow a narrow stream of water. 

Nevertheless, he postponed the departure from day 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 339 


to day. On Mount Linde it was so well with all, them- 
selves as well as the animals! Nell not only was rid of the 
fever but of anzemia also; Stas’ head never ached; Kali’s 
and Mea’s skins began to shine like black satin; Nasibu 
looked like a melon walking on thin legs, and the King, 
no less than the horses and the donkey, grew fat. Stas 
well knew that they would not until the end of the jour- 
ney find another island like this amidst the jungle sea. 
And he viewed the future with fear; moreover, they had 
in the King great assistance and in case of necessity a 
defense. 

Thus a week more elapsed before they commenced 
preparations for the journey. In moments free from 
packing their effects they did not cease, however, to 
send out kites with the announcement that they were 
going eastward towards some lake, and towards the ocean. 
They continued to fly them because they were favored 
by a strong western wind, resembling at times a hurri- 
cane, which seized and carried them to the mountains and 
far beyond the mountains. In order to protect Nell 
from the scorching heat, Stas constructed from pieces 
of a tent a palanquin in which the little maid was to ride 
on the elephant. The King, after a few trials, became 
accustomed to this not great burden, as well as to the 
fastening of the palanquin on his back with strong palm 
ropes. This load after all was a feather in comparison 
to others with which it was intended to burden him and 
upon the distribution and tying of which Kaliiand Mea 
were engaged. 

Little Nasibu was commissioned to dry bananas and 
grind them into flour between two flat stones. At the 
plucking of the heavy bunches of fruit he was assisted 
by the King, at which work they overfed themselves to 
such an extent that, in the neighborhood of the huts, 


340 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


bananas were soon entirely gone, and they had to go to 
another plantation lying on the opposite extremity of 
the table-land. Saba, who had nothing to do, most 
frequently accompanied them on these excursions. 

But Nasibu, for his zeal, almost paid with his life, or 
at least with captivity of a singular kind. For it happened 
that once when he was plucking bananas above the brink 
of a steep hanging rock he suddenly beheld in the rocky 
gap a hideous face, covered with black hair, blinking 
at him with its eyes, and displaying white fangs as though 
smiling. The boy was stupefied from terror at first and 
then began to scurry away as fast as his legs could carry 
him. He ran between ten and twenty paces when a hairy 
arm wound around him, he was lifted off his feet, and 
the monster, black as night, began to fly with him to the 
precipice. 

Fortunately the gigantic ape, having seized the boy, 
could run only on two feet, in consequence of which Saba, 
who was in the vicinity, easily overtook it and buried 
his fangs in its back. A horrible fight began, in which 
the dog, notwithstanding his powerful stature and strength, 
would surely have had to succumb, for a gorilla vanquishes 
even a lion. Simians asa rule, however, do not relinquish 
their quarry even though their lives and liberty are in 
danger. The gorilla, being caught from behind, could 
not easily reach Saba; nevertheless, having grabbed 
him by the neck with its left hand it had already raised 
him, when the ground gave a dull sound under heavy 
steps and the King appeared. 

One light thwack with the trunk sufficed to prostrate 
with a shattered skull and neck the terrible “forest demon,” 
as the negroes call the gorilla. The King, however, for 
greater certainty or through inborn fury, pinned the 
gorilla with his tusks to the ground and afterwards did 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 341 


not cease to wreak his vengeance upon it until Stas, dis- 
quieted by the roar and howling, came running up with 
a rifle and ordered him to stop. 

The huge gorilla, with the whites of the eyes rolled up 
and fangs displayed, terrible still, though not alive, lay 
in a puddle of blood which Saba lapped and which crim- 
soned the King’s tusks. The elephant trumpeted tri- 
umphantly and Nasibu, ashen from terror, related to 
Stas what had happened. The latter pondered for a 
while whether or not to bring Nell and show her this 
monstrous ape, but abandoned the intention, for sud- 
denly he was seized by fear. Of course, Nell often strolled 
alone over the island. So something similar might befall 
her. 

It appeared, therefore, that Mount Linde was not so 
safe a shelter as it seemed in the first instance. 

Stas returned to the hut and related the incident to 
Nell, while she listened with curiosity and fear, opening 
wide her eyes and repeating every little while: 

“You see what would have happened without the 
King.” 

“True! With such a nurse one need not fear about 
a child. So then, until we leave, do not move a step 
without him.” 

“When shall we leave?” 

“The supplies are ready; the packs distributed; so 
it is necessary only to load the animals and we can 
start even to-morrow.” 

“To our papas!” 

“Tf God permits,” Stas answered gravely. 


XVI 


NEVERTHELESS, they did not start until several days 
after this conversation. The departure, after a short 
prayer in which they warmly commended themselves 
to God, took place at daybreak, six o’clock in the morning. 
Stas rode at the head, on horseback, preceded by Saba. 
After him the King ambled gravely, moving his ears and 
bearing on his powerful back a canvas palanquin and in 
the palanquin Nell with Mea; they were followed by 
Linde’s horses one after another, tied together with a 
long palm rope and carrying numerous packs; and the 
procession closed with little Nasibu on the donkey, as 
fat as himself. 

On account of the early hour, the heat was not at first 
oppressive, though the day was clear and from beyond 
the Karamojo Mountains the sun rolled magnificently, 
not shaded by a cloudlet. But an eastern breeze molli- 
fied the intense heat of its rays. At moments there rose 
quite a strong wind, under whose breath the grass lay 
low and the whole jungle became wavy like the sea. After 
the copious rains all vegetation grew so exuberantly that, 
in lower places especially, not only the horses were hidden 
in the grass, but even the King; so that above the waving 
green surface could be seen only the white palanquin, 
which moved forward like a launch on a lake. After an 
hour’s journey, on a dry, not high elevation, they chanced 
upon gigantic thistles having stems as thick as the trunk 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 343 


of a tree and flowers the size of a man’s head. On the 
sides of some mountains which from a distance appeared 
barren they saw furze-bushes about twenty-six feet 
high. Other plants which in Europe belong to the smallest 
varieties assumed here proportions corresponding to the 
thistles and furze-bushes; and gigantic, isolated trees 
rose above the jungle, looking like churches. Particu- 
larly prominent were fig-trees, called “daro,’ whose 
weeping boughs, touching the ground and changing into 
new trunks, covered immense spaces, so that each tree 
formed as it were a separate grove. 

This region, from a distance, seemed like one forest; 
nearer, however, it appeared that the great trees grew a 
dozen or even some score paces apart. In the northern 
direction very few of them could be seen and the region 
assumed the character of a mountainous steppe, covered 
with an even jungle over which rose only umbrella-like 
acacias. The grass there was more greenish, shorter, 
and evidently better for pasturage, for Nell from the King’s 
back and Stas from heights on which he rode, saw far 
greater herds of antelopes than up to that time they had 
met elsewhere. The animals sometimes grazed alone 
and at times mingled together; gnus, cobs, ariels, antelope- 
cows, hartbeests, springboks, and great kudus. Zebras 
and giraffes also were not lacking. The herds, at the 
sight of the caravan, stopped feeding, raised their heads, 
and pricking their ears, gazed at the white palanquin with 
extraordinary amazement, after which in a moment 
they scampered away, and having run between ten and 
twenty paces they again stood still, staring at this object 
unknown to them, until, having gratified their curiosity, 
they began to graze calmly. From time to time a rhi- 
noceros started up suddenly before the caravan with a 
crash and in a rage, but in spite of its impetuous nature 


344 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


and its readiness to attack everything which comes within 
range of its vision, it ran away shamefully at the sight 
of the King, whom only the commands of Stas restrained 
from pursuit. 

An African elephant detests a rhinoceros, and if he finds 
its fresh tracks, trusting to superior strength, he follows 
until he finds his adversary and commences a combat 
in which the rhinoceros is almost always the victim. It 
was not easy for the King, who undoubtedly was already 
responsible for the death of many, to renounce this habit, 
but now he was so tame and was so accustomed to regard 
Stas as his master, that hearing his voice and observing 
the threatening look in his eyes, he dropped his uplifted 
trunk and walked ahead quietly. Stas did not lack a 
desire to witness a fight between giants, but he feared 
for Nell. If the elephant started on a full run, the palan- 
quin might be wrecked, and what is worse, the huge beast 
might bump it against a bough, and then Nell’s life 
would be in terrible danger. Stas knew from descrip- 
tions of hunts which he had read in Port Said that the 
tiger-hunters in India fear, more than the tigers, that 
the elephant in a panic or in pursuit may dash the howdah 
against a tree. Finally, the full run of the giant is so heavy 
that no one without impairment of his health could long 
endure such rides. 

_ On the other hand, the presence of the King removed 
a multitude of dangers. The malignant and bold buf- 
faloes, which they met that day bound for the little lake 
at which all the animals of the vicinity gathered at even- 
ing, also scampered away at sight of him and, making a 
circuit of the whole lake, drank on the other side. At 
night the King, with one hind leg tied to a tree, guarded 
the tent in which Nell slept. This was a watch so secure 
that though Stas ordered a fire to be built, he regarded 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 345 


the erection of a zareba as a superfluous precaution, 
though he knew that the lions would not be missing in 
a region abounding with such numerous herds of ante- 
lopes. In fact, it happened that very night that some 
lions began to roar among the gigantic junipers ! growing 
on the hillsides. Notwithstanding the blazing fire the 
lions, allured by the odor of horses, drew nearer to the 
camp; but, when the King became tired of hearing their 
voices and suddenly, amid the stillness, his threatening, 
thunder-like clarion tones resounded, they hushed as 
though abashed, apparently understanding that with 
such an individual it was best not to have any direct 
dealings. The children slept excellently the balance of 
the night, and only at daybreak did they proceed upon 
their further journey. 

But for Stas anxiety and worry again began. In the 
first place, he perceived that they were traveling slowly 
and that they could not make more than six miles a day. 
Proceeding in this manner they would be able indeed to 
reach the Abyssinian frontier after a month, but as Stas 
was determined to follow Linde’s advice in every respect, 
and Linde had positively claimed that they would not be 
able to go through to Abyssinia, there remained only the 
road to the ocean. But according to the calculation of 
the Swiss they were over six hundred and twenty miles 
from the ocean, and that in a direct line; then Mombasa 
being situated farther south, the goal was still further; 
therefore, the entire journey would require over three 
months. With alarm Stas thought that it would be three 
months of excessive heat, toil, and dangers from negro 
tribes which they might encounter. They were still in a 
desolate country from which the population had been 


1 Junipers in the Karamojo Mountains in Abyssinia attain the 
height of one hundred and sixty feet. See Elisée Reclus. 


346 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


driven by the smallpox and news of the dervish raids; 
but Africa, on the whole, is quite populous, so sooner or 
later they must reach localities inhabited by unknown 
races, ruled usually by savage and cruel petty kings. It 
was an uncommon task to extricate one’s self with life and 
liberty from such difficulties. 

Stas relied simply upon this: that if he chanced upon 
the Wahima people, he would drill a few tens of warriors 
in shooting, and afterwards induce them by great promises 
to accompany him to the ocean. But Kali had no idea 
where the Wahimas lived; neither could Linde, who had 
heard something of the tribe, indicate the way to them, 
nor could he designate specifically the locality occupied 
by them. Linde had mentioned some great lake, of 
which he knew only from narratives, and Kali contended 
with positiveness that one side of that lake, which he 
called Basso-Narok, was occupied by the Wahimas, and 
the other by the Samburus. Now Stas was troubled by 
this: that in the geography of Africa, which in the school 
in Port Said was taught very thoroughly, there was no 
mention made of such a lake. If Kali only had spoken 
of it, he would have assumed that it was Victoria Nyanza, 
but Linde could not err for he had just come from Vic- 
toria, northward, along the Karamojo Mountains, and, 
from reports of natives of those mountains, he had come 
to the conclusion that this mysterious lake was situated 
further east and north. Stas did not know what to think 
of it all; he feared, however, that he might not chance 
upon the Wahimas at the lake; he feared also the savage 
tribes, the waterless jungle, the insurmountable moun- 
tains, the tsetse flies which destroy animals; he feared 
the sleeping sickness, the fever for Nell, the heat, and that 
immeasurable expanse which still separated them from 
the ocean. 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 347 


But after leaving Mount Linde, naught else remained 
to do than to go ahead continually eastward. Linde 
indeed had said that this journey was beyond the strength 
of an experienced and energetic traveler, but Stas had 
already acquired a great deal of experience, and as to 
energy, why, as Nell was concerned, he determined to 
use as much of it as might be necessary. In the mean- 
time it was essential to spare the strength of the little 
girl; so he decided to travel only from six until ten o’clock 
in the forenoon, and to make the second march from three 
to six in the afternoon only in case that at the first stopping 
place there was no water. 

But in the meantime, as the rain fell during the massica 
quite copiously, they found water everywhere. The little 
lakes, formed by the downpours in the valleys, were still 
well filled, and from the mountains flowed here and there 
streams, pouring crystalline, cool water in which bathing 
was excellent and at the same time absolutely safe, for 
crocodiles live only in the greater waters in which fish, 
which form their usual food, are to be found. 

Stas, however, did not permit the little girl to drink 
crude water as he had inherited from Linde a filter whose 
action always filled Kali and Mea with amazement. 
Both seeing how the filter, immerged in a turbid, whitish 
liquid, admitted to the reservoir only pure and translucent 
water, lay down with laughter and slapped their knees with 
the palms of their hands in sign of surprise and joy. 

On the whole, the journey at the beginning progressed 
easily. They had from Linde considerable supplies of 
coffee, tea, sugar, bouillon, various preserves, and all kinds 
of medicine. Stas did not have to save his packs for there 
were more of them than they could take along; they did 
not lack also various implements, weapons of all calibers, 
and sky-rockets, which on encountering negroes might 


348 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


prove very useful. The country was fertile; game, there- 
fore fresh meat, was everywhere in abundance, likewise 
fruit. Here and there in the low lands they chanced upon 
marshes, but still covered with water, therefore not 
infecting the air with their noxious exhalations. On the 
table-land there were none of the mosquitoes which inoc- 
ulate the blood with fever. The heat from ten o’clock in 
the morning became unbearable but the little travelers 
stopped during the so-called “white hours” in the deep 
shade of great trees, through the dense foliage of which 
not a ray of the sun could penetrate. Perfect health also 
favored Nell, Stas, and the negroes. 


XVII 


On the fifth day Stas rode with Nell on the King, for they 
had chanced upon a wide belt of acacias, growing so densely 
that the horses could move only on a path beaten down 
by the elephant. The hour was early, the morning 
radiant and dewy. The children conversed about the 
journey and the fact that each day brought them nearer 
to the ocean and to their fathers, for whom both con- 
tinually longed. This, from the moment of their abduc- 
tion from Fayfim, was the inexhaustible subject of all their 
conversations, which always moved them to tears. And 
they incessantly repeated in a circle that their papas 
thought that they already were dead and both were 
grieving and in spite of hope were despatching Arabs to 
Khartim for news while they were now far away, not 
only from Khartfiim but from Fashoda, and after five 
days would be still farther until finally they would reach 
the ocean, or perhaps before that time, some kind of place 
from which they could send despatches. The only person 
in the whole caravan who knew what still awaited them 
was Stas; — Nell, on the other hand, was most profoundly 
convinced that there was nothing in the world which 
“Stes”? could not accomplish and she was quite certain 
that he would conduct her to the coast. So many times, 
anticipating events, she pictured to herself in her little 
head what would happen when the first news of them 
arrived and, chirping like a little bird, related it to Stas. 


350 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


“Our papas are sitting,” she said, “in Port Said and weep- 
ing, when in comes a boy with a despatch. What is it? 
My papa or your papa opens it and looks at the signa- 
tures and reads ‘Stas and Nell.’ Then they will rejoice! 
Then they will start up to prepare to meet us! Then 
there will be joy in the whole house and our papas will 
rejoice and everybody will rejoice and they will praise 
you and they will come and I shall hug tightly papa’s 
neck, and after that we shall always be together — and — ” 

And it ended in this: that her chin commenced to 
quiver, the beautiful eyes changed into two fountains, 
and in the end she leaned her head on Stas’ arm and 
wept from sorrow, longing, and joy at the thought of the 
future meeting. And Stas, allowing his imagination to 
roam into the future, divined that his father would be 
proud of him; that he would say to him: “You behaved 
as became a Pole;” and intense emotion possessed him 
and in his heart was bred a longing, ardor, and courage 
as inflexible as steel. “I must,” he said to himself, 
“rescue Nell. I must live to see that moment.” And at 
such moments it seemed to him that there were no dan- 
gers which he was not able to overcome nor obstacles 
which he could not surmount. 

But it was yet far to the final victory. In the mean- 
time they were making their way through the acacia 
grove. The long thorns of these trees even made white 
marks upon the King’s hide. Finally the grove became 
thinner and across the branches of the scattered trees 
could be seen in the distance a green jungle. Stas, not- 
withstanding that the heat was very oppressive, slipped 
out of the palanquin and sat on the elephant’s neck to see 
whether there were any herds of antelopes or zebras 
within view, for he wished to replenish his supply of meat. 

In fact, on the right side he espied a herd of ariels, 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS ool 


composed of a few head, and among them two ostriches, 
but when they passed the last clump of trees and the 
elephant turned to the left, a different sight struck the 
eyes of the boy. At the distance of about a third of a 
mile he observed a large manioc field and at the border 
of the field between ten and twenty black forms apparently 
engaged at work in the field. 

“Negroes!” he exclaimed, turning to Nell. 

And his heart began to beat violently. For a while, 
he hesitated as to whether he should turn back and hide 
again in the acacias, but it occurred to him that, sooner or 
later, he would have to meet the natives in populated 
districts and enter into relations with them, and that the 
fate of the whole traveling party might depend upon how 
those relations were formed; so, after brief reflection, 
he guided the elephant towards the field. 

At the same moment Kali approached and, pointing 
his hand at a clump of trees, said: 

“Great master! That is a negro village and there are 
women working at the manioc. Shall I ride to them?” 

“We will ride together,” Stas answered, “and then you 
shall tell them that we come as friends.” 

“T know what to tell them, master,” exclaimed the 
young negro with great self-assurance. 

And turning the horses towards the workers, he placed 
the palms of his hands around his lips and began to shout: 

“Yambo, he yambo sana!” 

At this sound, the women engaged in hoeing the manioc 
field started up suddenly and stood as if thunderstruck, 
but this lasted only the twinkling of an eye, for after- 
wards, flinging away in alarm the hoes and baskets, they 
began to run away, screaming, to the trees amidst which 
the village was concealed. 

The little travelers approached slowly and calmly. In 


302 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


the thicket resounded the yelling of some hundred voices, 
after which silence fell. It was interrupted finally by 
the hollow but loud rumble of a drum, which did not 
cease even for a moment. 

It was evidently a signal of the warriors for battle, for 
three hundred of them suddenly emerged from the thicket. 
All stood in a long row before the village. Stas stopped the 
King at the distance of one hundred paces and began to 
gaze at them. The sun illuminated their well-shaped 
forms, wide breasts, and powerful arms. They were armed 
with bows and spears. Around their thighs some had 
short skirts of heath, and some of monkey skin. Their 
heads were adorned with ostrich and parrot feathers, 
or great scalps torn off baboons’ skulls. They appeared 
warlike and threatening, but they stood motionless and 
in silence, for their amazement was simply unbounded 
and subdued the desire for fighting. All eyes were fastened 
upon the King, on the white palanquin, and the white 
man sitting on his neck. 

Nevertheless, an elephant was not an unknown animal 
to them. On the contrary, they continually live in dread 
of elephants, whole herds of which destroy at night their 
manioc fields as well as banana and doom-palm plantations. 
As the spears and arrows do not pierce the elephant’s 
hide, the poor negroes fight the depredators with the help 
of fire, with the aid of cries imitating a cockerel’s crow, 
by digging pits, and constructing traps made of the trunks 
of trees. But that an elephant should become slave of 
man and permit one to sit on his neck was something 
which none of them ever saw before, and it never entered 
into the mind of any of them that anything like that was 
possible. So the spectacle which was presented to them 
passed so far beyond their understanding and imagination 
that they did not know what to do: whether to fight 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 353 


or to run where their eyes should lead them, though it 
would result in leaving them to the caprice of fate. 

So in uncertainty, alarm, and amazement they only 
whispered to each other: 

“Oh, mother! What creatures are these which have 
come to us, and what awaits us at their hands?” 

But at this Kali, having ridden within a spear’s throw 
of them, stood up in the stirrups and began to shout: 

“People! people! Listen to the voice of Kali, the son of 
Fumba, the mighty king of the Wahimas on the shores 
of Bassa-Narok. Oh listen, listen, and if you understand 
his speech, pay heed to each word that he utters.” 

“We understand,” rang the answer of three hundred 
mouths. 

“Let your king stand forth; let him tell his name and 
let him open his ears and lips that he may hear better.” 

“M’Rua! M’Rua!” numerous voices began to cry. 

M’Rua stepped in front of the ranks, but not more 
than three paces. He was a negro, already old, tall and 
powerfully built, but evidently did not suffer from too much 
courage, as the calves of his legs quivered so that he had 
to implant the edge of a spear in the ground and support 
himself on the shaft in order to stand on his legs. 

After his example, the other warriors also drove the 
spears into the ground in sign that they wanted to hear 
peaceably the words of the arrival. 

And Kali again raised his voice. 

“M’Rua, and you, M’Rua’s men, you heard that to 
you speaks the son of the king of the Wahimas, whose 
cows cover as thickly the mountains around the Bassa- 
Narok as the ants cover the body of a slain giraffe. And 
what says Kali, the son of the king of Wahima? Lo, he 
announces to you the great and happy tidings that there 
comes to your village the ‘Good Mzimu.’” 


304 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


After which he yelled still louder: 

“That is so! The Good Mzimu! Ooo!” 

In the stillness which ensued could be perceived the 
great sensation which Kali’s words created. The wave 
of warriors surged back and forth, for some, impelled by 
curiosity, advanced a few paces, while others retreated in 
fear. M’Rua supported himself with both hands on the 
spear — and for some time the hollow silence continued. 
Only after a while a murmur passed through the ranks 
and individual voices began to repeat “ Mzimu! Mzimu!”’ 
and here and there resounded shouts of “ Yancig! Yancig!”’ 
expressive at the same time of homage and welcome. 

But Kali’s voice again predominated over the murmurs 
and shouts: 

“Look and rejoice! Lo, the ‘Good Mzimu’ sits there 
in that white hut on the back of the great elephant and 
the great elephant obeys her as a slave obeys a master 
and like a child its mother! Oh, neither your fathers nor 
you have seen anything like that.” 

“We have not seen! Yancig! Yancig 

And the eyes of all warriors were directed at the “hut,” 
or rather at the palanquin. 

And Kali, who during the religious instructions on 
Mount Linde had learned that faith moves mountains, 
was deeply convinced that the prayer of the little white 
“bibi” could procure everything from God; so he spoke 
thus further and in perfect sincerity: 

“Listen! Listen! The ‘Good Mzimu’ is riding on an 
elephant in the direction in which the sun rises, beyond 
the mountains out of the waters; there the ‘Good Mzimu’ 
will tell the Great Spirit to send you clouds, and those 
clouds during a drought will water with rain your millet, 
your manioc, your bananas, and the grass in the jungle, 
in order that you may have plenty to eat and that your 


1?) 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 355 


cows shall have good fodder and shall give thick and 
fat milk. Do you want to have plenty of food and milk 
— oh, men?” 

“He! We do, we do!” 

“And the ‘Good Mzimu’ will tell the Great Spirit to 
send to you the wind, which will blow away from your 
village that sickness which changes the body into a honey- 
comb. Do you want him to blow it away —oh, men?” 

“He! Let him blow it away!” 

“And the Great Spirit at the prayer of the ‘Good 
Mzimu’ will protect you from attacks and slavery and 
from depredations in your fields and from the lion and 
from the panther and from the snake and from the lo- 
cust —”’ 

“Let her do that.” 

“So, listen yet and look who sits before the hut between 
the ears of the terrible elephant. Lo, there sits bwana 
kubwa, the great and mighty white master, whom the 
elephant fears!” 

Poel. 

“Who has thunder-bolts in his hand and kills with it 
bad men —” 

“He!” 

“Who kills lions —”’ 

“He!” 

“Who lets loose fiery snakes —” 

el 

“Who crushes rocks —” 

ae): 

“Who, however, will do you no harm, if you will 
honor the ‘Good Mzimu.’” 

“Yancig! Yancig!” 

“ And if you will bring to him an abundance of dry flour 
from bananas, eggs of chickens, fresh milk, and honey.” 


356 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


“Yancig! Yancig!” 

“So approach and fall on your faces before the ‘Good 
Mzimu!’” 

M’Rua and his warriors started and, not ceasing to 
“yancig” for a moment, advanced between ten and 
twenty paces, but they approached cautiously, for a 
superstitious fear of the “Mzimu” and downright terror 
before the elephant impeded their steps. The sight of 
Saba startled them anew as they mistook him for a “ wobo,”’ 
that is, a big, yellowish-brown leopard, which lives in 
that region as well as in Southern Abyssinia, and whom 
the natives fear more than a lion, for it prefers human 
flesh above all other, and with unheard-of daring attacks 
even armed men. They quieted, however, seeing that 
the little obese negro held the terrible “wobo” on a rope. 
But they were acquiring a still greater idea of the power of 
the “Good Mzimu,”’ as well as of the white master, and, 
staring now at the elephant then at Saba, they whispered 
to each other: “If they bewitched even the ‘wobo,’ 
who in the world can oppose them?” But the most 
solemn moment did not come until Stas, turning to Nell, 
first bowed profoundly and afterwards drew aside the 
curtain-like walls of the palanquin and exhibited to the 
eyes of the crowd the “Good Mzimu.” M’Rua and all 
the warriors fell on their faces so that their bodies formed 
a long, living deck. Not one of them dared to move, and 
fear prevailed in all hearts all the more when the King, 
either at Stas’ order or of his own volition, raised his 
trunk and began to trumpet strongly; and after his 
example Saba emitted the deepest bass of which he was 
capable. Then from all breasts issued, resembling en- 
treating groans, “Aka! Aka! Aka!” and this continued 
until Kali again addressed them. 

“Oh, M’Rua, and you, children of M’Rua! You have 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 307 


paid homage to the ‘Good Mzimu’; therefore rise, gaze, 
and fill your eyes, for whoever does that gains the bless- 
ing of the Great Spirit. Drive away, also, fear from 
your breasts and bellies and know that wherever the 
‘Good Mzimu’ sojourns, human blood cannot be shed.” 

At these words, and particularly as a result of the an- 
nouncement that in the presence of the “Good Mzimu”’ 
no one can meet death, M’Rua rose, and after him the 
other warriors, and began to gaze, bashfully but eagerly 
at the kind divinity. Indeed, they would have to acknowl- 
edge, if Kali again should ask them about it, that neither 
their fathers nor they ever had beheld anything like it. 
For their eyes were accustomed to monstrous figures 
of idols, made of wood and shaggy cocoanuts, and now 
there appeared before them on an elephant’s back a bright 
divinity, gentle, sweet, and smiling, resembling a white 
bird, and at the same time a white flower. So, too, their 
fears passed away, their breasts breathed freely; their 
thick lips began to grin and their hands were involuntarily 
stretched out towards the charming phenomenon. 

“Oh! Yancig! Yancig! Yancig!” 

Nevertheless, Stas, who was watching everything 
with the closest possible attention, observed that one of 
the negroes, wearing a pointed cap of rats’ skin, slunk 
away from the ranks immediately after Kali’s last words 
and, crawling like a snake in the grass, turned to an iso- 
lated hut standing apart, beyond the enclosure, but 
surrounded likewise by a high stockade bound by climbing 
plants. 

In the meantime the “Good Mzimu,” though greatly 
embarrassed by the réle of a divinity, at Stas’ request 
stretched out her little hand and began to greet the 
negroes. The black warriors watched with joy in their 
eyes each movement of that little hand, firmly believing it 


358 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


possessed powerful “charms,” which would protect them 
and secure them against a multitude of disasters. Some, 
striking their breasts and hips, said: “Oh, mother, now it 
will be well—for us and our cows.’ M’Rua, now en- 
tirely emboldened, drew near the elephant and prostrated 
himself once more before the “Good Mzimu” and after 
that, bowing to Stas, spoke in the following manner: 

“Would the great master, who leads the white divinity 
on the elephant, be pleased to eat a small piece of M’Rua, 
and would he consent that M’Rua should eat a small 
piece of him, in order that they should become brothers, 
among whom there is no falsehood and treachery?” 

Kali at once translated these words, but perceiving 
from Stas’ countenance that he did not have the slightest 
desire to eat a small piece of M’Rua, turned to the old 
negro and said: 

“Oh, M’Rua! Do you really think that the white 
master, whom the elephant fears, who holds thunder- 
bolts in his hands, who kills lions, to whom the ‘wobo’ 
wags its tail, who lets loose fiery snakes and crushes rocks, 
could form a blood brotherhood with a mere king? 
Reflect, oh, M’Rua, whether the Great Spirit would not 
punish you for your audacity, and whether it is not enough 
of glory for you if you eat a small piece of Kali, the son of 
Fumba, the ruler of the Wahimas, and if Kali, the son of 
Fumba, eats a small piece of you?” 

“Are you not a slave?”’ M’Rua asked. 

“The great master did not seize Kali, neither did he buy 
him; he only saved his life; therefore Kali is conducting 
the ‘Good Mzimu’ and the master to the country of the 
Wahimas in order that the Wahimas and Fumba should 
pay honors to them and give them great gifts.”’ 

“Let it be as you say and let M’Rua eat a small piece 
of Kali and Kali a small piece of M’Rua.” 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 309 


“Tet it be so,” repeated the warriors. 

“Where is the fetish-man?”’ the king asked. 

“Where is the fetish-man? Where is the fetish-man? 
Where is Kamba?”’ numerous voices began to call. 

Then something occurred which might change entirely 
the state of affairs, embroil the friendly relations, and make 
the negroes enemies of the newly arrived guests. From 
the hut standing apart and surrounded by a separate 
stockade, there suddenly resounded an infernal din. It 
was like the roar of a lion, like thunder, like the rumbling 
of a drum, like the laughter of a hyena, the howling of a 
wolf, and like the shrill creaking of rusty iron hinges. 
The King hearing these dreadful sounds, began to trum- 
pet, Saba barked, the donkey, on which Nasibu sat, 
brayed.’ The warriors leaped as if scalded, and pulled the 
spears out of the ground. Confusion ensued. Stas’ ears 
were assailed by the uneasy shouts of: “Our Mzimu! 
Our Mzimu!” The esteem and favor, with which they 
looked at the arrivals, vanished in one moment. The 
eyes of the savages began to cast suspicious and hostile 
glances. Threatening murmurs began to rise among the 
crowd and the horrible noise in the isolated hut increased 
more and more. 

Kali was terrified and, approaching Stas quickly, said 
in a voice broken with emotion: 

“Master! the fetish-man has awakened the wicked 
Mzimu, who fears that he will lose gifts and is roaring in 
a rage. Master, quiet the fetish-man and the wicked 
Mzimu with great gifts, for otherwise these men will turn 
against us.” 

“Quiet them?” Stas asked. 

And suddenly he was possessed by anger at the per- 
versity and greed of the fetish-man; and the unexpected 
danger roused him to the bottom of his soul. His swarthy 


360 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


face assumed the same expression which it had when he 
shot Gebhr, Chamis, and the Bedouins. His eyes glittered 
ominously; his lips were compressed and his cheeks paled. 

“Ah! Ill quiet them!” he said. 

And without any reflection he drove the elephant 
towards the hut. 

Kali, not desiring to remain alone among the negroes, 
ran after him. From the breasts of the savage warriors 
there came a shout — it was not known whether of alarm 
or of rage, but, before they recovered their wits, the stock- 
ade under the pressure of the elephant’s head crashed and 
tumbled; after that the clay walls of the hut crumbled 
and amid dust the roof flew up in the air; and after a 
while M’Rua and his men saw the black trunk raised 
high and at the end of the trunk the fetish-man, Kamba. 

And Stas, observing on the floor a big drum made of the 
hollowed trunk of a tree with monkey skin stretched over 
it, ordered Kali to hand it to him and, returning, stopped 
directly among the amazed warriors. 

“Men!” he said in a loud voice, “it is not your Mzimu 
who roars; it is this rogue who makes the noise on the 
drum to wheedle gifts out of you, and whom you fear 
like children!” 

Saying this, he seized the rope drawn through the dried- 
up skin of the drum and began to twirl it around with all 
his strength. The same sounds which had previously 
so startled the negroes resounded now, and even more 
shrilly, as they were not muffled by the walls of the hut. 

“Oh, how stupid are M’Rua and his children!” shouted 
Kali. 

Stas gave the drum back to Kali while the latter began 
to make a noise with it with such zeal that for a while a 
word could not be heard. When finally he had enough, 
he flung the drum at M’Rua’s feet. 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 361 


“This is your Mzimu,”’ he exclaimed, with great laughter. 

After which he began with the usual negro exuberance 
of words to address the warriors; at which he was not at 
all sparing of jeers at them and at M’Rua. He declared 
to them, pointing at Kamba, that “that thief in the cap 
made of rat’s skin” cheated them through many rainy 
and dry seasons and they fed him on beans, flesh of kids, 
and honey. Is there another king and nation as stupid 
in the world? They believed in the power of the old 
deceiver and in his charms, and look now, how that great 
fetish-man hangs from the elephant’s trunk and is crying 
“Aka!”’ to arouse the pity of the white master. Where is 
his power? Where are his charms? Why does not any 
wicked Mzimu roar in his defense? Ah! What is this, 
their Mzimu? A clout of monkey skin and piece of wood 
hollowed through decay which the elephant will tread to 
pieces. Among the Wahimas, neither the women nor the 
children would be afraid of such a Mzimu, and M’Rua 
and his men fear him. There is only one genuine Mzimu 
and one really great and powerful master. Lét them pay 
honors to them; let them bring as many gifts as they 
possibly can, as otherwise calamities, of which they hitherto 
have not heard, will befall them. 

For the negroes even these words were unnecessary as 
the fetish-man, together with his wicked Mzimu, appeared 
so vastly weaker than the new divinity and the white 
master, that it sufficed most fully to make them desert him 
and load him with contempt. So they commenced anew 
to “ yancig”’ with even greater humility and haste. But as 
they were angry at themselves because they had allowed 
Kamba to cheat them for so many years, they wanted, by 
all means, to kill him. M’Rua himself begged Stas to 
allow him to bind and keep him until he could devise a 
sufficiently cruel death. Nell, however, was determined to 


362 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


spare his life, and as Kali had announced that wherever 
the ‘‘Good Mzimu” sojourns human blood cannot be 
shed, Stas consented only to the expulsion of the hapless 
fetish-man from the village. 

Kamba, who expected that he would die in the most 
ingeniously devised tortures, fell on his face before the 
“Good Mzimu”’ and, blubbering, thanked her for saving 
his life. From beyond the stockade women and children 
poured, for the news of the arrival of the extraordinary 
guests had already spread over the whole village, and the 
desire to see the white Mzimu overcame their terror. 
Stas and Nell for the first time saw a settlement of real 
savages, which even the Arabs had not succeeded in 
reaching. The dress of these negroes consisted only of 
heath or skins tied around their hips; all were tattooed. 
Men as well as women had perforated ears, and in the 
opening, chunks of wood or bone so big that the expanded 
lobes reached the shoulders. In the lower lips they 
carried “peleles,” that is, wooden or bony rings as large 
as saucers. The more distinguished warriors and their 
wives had around their throats collars of iron or brass 
wire so high and stiff that they could barely move their 
heads. 

They apparently belonged to the Shilluk tribe, which 
extends far into the east, for Kali and Mea understood 
their speech excellently and Stas partly. They did not 
have, however, limbs as long as their kindred living on 
the overflowing banks of the Nile; they were broader in 
the shoulders, not so tall, and generally less like wading 
birds. The children looked like fleas and, not being yet 
disfigured by “peleles,” were, without comparison, better 
looking than the older people. 

The women, having first from a distance sated their 
eyes with looking at the “Good Mzimu,” began to vie with 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 363 


the warriors in bringing gifts to her, consisting of kids, 
chickens, eggs, black beans, and beer brewed of millet. 
This continued until Stas stopped the afflux of supplies; 
as he paid for them liberally with beads and colored per- 
cale, and Nell distributed between ten and twenty looking- 
glasses inherited from Linde, immense joy reigned in the 
whole village; and around the tent, in which the little 
travelers sought shelter, shouts, happy and full of en- 
thusiasm, continually resounded. After that, the war- 
riors performed a war-dance in honor of the guests and 
fought a sham battle, and finally they proceeded to form 
a blood brotherhood between Kali and M’Rua. 

Owing to the absence of Kamba, who for this ceremony 
was usually indispensable, his place was taken by an old 
negro sufficiently conversant with the adjuration. The 
latter, having killed a kid and extracted its liver, divided 
it into fair-sized morsels; after which he began to turn 
a kind of spinning-wheel with his hand and foot and, gaz- 
ing now at Kali and then at M’Rua, addressed them in 
a solemn voice: 

“Kali, son of Fumba, do you desire to eat a piece of 
M’Rua, the son of M’Kuli, and you, M’Rua, son of 
M’Kuli, do you desire to eat a piece of Kali, the son of 
Fumba?”’ 

“We do,” announced the future brethren. 

“Do you desire that the heart of Kali should be the 
heart of M’Rua and the heart of M’Rua the heart of 
Kali?” 

“We do.” 

“ And the hands and the spears and the cows?” 

“ And the cows!” 

“And everything which each one possesses and will 
possess?” 

“ And what he possesses and will possess.” 


364 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


“And that there should not be between you falsehood, 
nor treachery, nor hatred?” 

“Nor hatred!” 

“* And that one shall not pilfer from the other? ”’ 

“ Never! ”’ 

“And that you shall be brethren? ”’ 

e Yes! 

The wheel turned more and more rapidly. The war- 
riors, gathered around, watched its revolutions with ever- 
increasing interest. 

“Ao!” exclaimed the aged negro, “if one of you 
deceives the other by lies, if he betrays him, if he steals 
from him, if he poisons him, may he be accursed!” 

“May he be accursed!” repeated all the warriors. 

“And if he is a liar and is plotting treason, let him not 
swallow the blood of his brother, and let him spit it out 
before our eyes.” 

“Oh, before our eyes!” 

“And let him die!” 

“Let him die! ” 

“Let him be torn to pieces by a wobo!” 

“Wobo!”’ 

"Ora liont: 

“Or a lion!” ; 

“May he be trampled upon by an elephant and a 
rhinoceros and a buffalo!” 

“Oh — and a buffalo!” repeated the chorus. 

“May he be bit by a snake! ” 

“Snake!” 

“And may his tongue become black!” 

“Black!” 

“And his eyes sink to the back of his head!” 

“To the back of his head!” 

“And may he walk on his heels upward!” 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 365 


“Ha! on his heels upward!” 

Not only Stas but Kali bit his lips in order not to burst 
out laughing. In the meantime adjurations were repeated, 
more and more horrible, and the wheel kept spinning so 
quickly that the eyes could not keep pace with its whirl. 
This continued until the old negro entirely lost his strength 
and breath. 

Then he squatted on the ground, and for some time 
nodded his head in both directions in silence. After a 
while, however, he rose and taking a knife, cut with it 
the skin at Kali’s shoulder and smearing a piece of kid’s 
liver with his blood, shoved it into M’Rua’s mouth; the 
other piece smeared in the king’s blood he shoved into 
Kali’s mouth. Both swallowed so quickly that their wind- 
pipes began to play, and their eyes bulged out; after 
which they grabbed hold of hands in sign of loyal and 
everlasting friendship. 

The warriors on the other hand began to shout with 
glee: 

“Both swallowed; neither spat it out; therefore they 
are sincere and there is no treachery between them.” 

And Stas in his soul thanked Kali that he had acted 
as his proxy at this ceremony, for he felt that at the swal- 
lowing of “a piece” of M’Rua he undoubtedly would 
have given proof of insincerity and treachery. 

From that moment, however, the little travelers were 
not threatened on the part of the savages with deceit or 
any unexpected attacks; on the contrary they were treated 
with a hospitality and an esteem almost god-like. This 
esteem increased when Stas, after making an observation 
on a barometer, a great heritage from Linde, predicted 
rain, and when rain fell that very same day quite copiously, 
as though the massica! desired to shake off the rest of 

1 The spring rainy season, which had just passed. 


366 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


its supplies upon the earth, the negroes were convinced 
that this downpour was the gift of the “Good Mzimu” and 
their gratitude to Nell was unbounded. Stas joked with 
her about this, saying that since she had become a negro 
divinity he would proceed alone on his further journey 
and leave her in M’Rua’s village, where the negroes would 
erect for her a chapel of ivory, and would bring beans 
and bananas to her. 

But Nell had no uncertainty, and, standing on her 
little toes, whispered in his ear, according to her custom, 
only four words: “You won’t leave me!”’ After which 
she began to leap from joy, saying that since the negroes 
were so kind, the whole journey to the ocean would be 
easy and quick. This happened in front of the tent and 
in the presence of the crowd, so old M’Rua, seeing a 
jumping Mzimu, began at once to leap as high as he could 
with his crooked shanks in the conviction that through 
that act he gave proof of his piety. In emulation of their 
superior “the ministers” started to leap, and after them 
the warriors, and later the women and children; in a 
word, the whole village for some time was jumping as 
if all had lost their wits. 

This example given by the divinity amused Stas so 
much that he lay down and roared with laughter. Never- 
theless, during the night-time he rendered to the pious 
king and his subjects a real and enduring service, for when 
the elephants made depredations upon their banana 
field he drove towards them on the King and shot a few 
rockets among the herd. The panic caused by the “fiery 
snakes”? surpassed even his expectation. The huge 
beasts, seized by a frenzy of terror, filled the jungle with 
a roar and the noise of hoofs, and, escaping blindly, 
tumbled down and trampled upon one another. The 
mighty King chased after his flying companions with 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 367 


extraordinary alacrity, not sparing blows of his trunk 
and tusks. After such a night one could be certain that 
not an elephant would appear in the banana and doom- 
palm plantations belonging to the village of old M’Rua. 

In the village great joy also reigned, and the negroes 
passed the whole night in dancing and drinking beer of 
millet and palm wine. Kali learned from them, however, 
many important things; it appeared that some of them 
had heard of some great water lying east and surrounded 
by mountains. For Stas this was proof that the lake, of 
which no mention was made in the geography which he 
had studied, actually existed; also, that going in the 
direction which they had selected, they would finally 
encounter the Wahima people. Inferring from the fact 
that Mea’s and Kali’s speech differed very little from 
M’Rua’s speech, he came to the conclusion that the name 
of “Wahima” was in all probability the designation of 
a locality, and that the peoples living on the shores of 
“Bassa-Narok” belonged to the great Shilluk tribe, 
which begins on the Nile and extends, it is not known 
how far, to the east. 


XVIII 


TuHE population of the whole village escorted afar the 
“Good Mzimu” and took leave of her with tears, begging 
vehemently that she would deign to come sometime 
to M’Rua, and to remember his people. Stas for some 
time hesitated whether he should point out to the negroes 
the ravine in which he had hidden the wares and supplies 
left by Linde, which owing to want of porters he could 
not take with him, but reflecting that the possession of 
such treasures might evoke envy and discord among 
them, awaken covetousness, and embroil the peace of 
their lives, he abandoned this design, and, instead, shot 
a big buffalo and left its meat for a farewell feast. The 
sight of such a large amount of “niama”’ also really 
delighted them. 

For the following three days the caravan again pro- 
ceeded through a desolate country. The days were scorch- 
ing, but, owing to the high altitude of the region, the nights 
were so cold that Stas ordered Mea to cover Nell with 
two shaggy coverlets. They now often crossed mountain- 
ous ravines, sometimes barren and rocky, sometimes 
covered with vegetation so compact that they could force 
their way through it only with the greatest difficulty. 
At the brinks of these ravines they saw big apes and 
sometimes lions and panthers. Stas killed one of them at 
the entreaty of Kali, who afterwards dressed himself in 
its hide in order that the negroes might at once know 
that they had to do with a person of royal blood. 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 369 


Beyond the ravines, on high table-lands, negro villages 
again began to appear. Some lay near together, some 
at the distance of a day or two. All were surrounded by 
high stockades for protection against lions, and these were 
so entwined with creepers that even close at hand they 
looked like clumps of a virgin forest. Only from the 
smoke rising from the middle of the village could one 
perceive that people dwelt there. The caravan was every- 
where received more or less as at M’Rua’s village; that 
is, at first with alarm and distrust and afterwards with 
admiration, amazement, and esteem. Once only did it 
happen that the whole village, at the sight of the elephant, 
Saba, the horses, and the white people, ran away to an 
adjacent forest, so that there was no one to converse 
with. Nevertheless, not a spear was aimed against the 
travelers, for negroes, until Mohammedanism fills their 
souls with cruelties and hatred against infidels, are rather 
timid and gentle. So it most frequently happened that 
Kali ate a “ piece” of the local king and the local king a 
“piece” of Kali, after which the relations were of the most 
friendly character. To the “Good Mzimu,” the negroes 
furnished evidence of homage and piety in the shape of 
chickens, eggs, and honey, extracted from wooden logs 
suspended from the boughs of great trees with the aid 
of palm ropes. The “great master,” the ruler of the ele- 
phant, thunder, and fiery snakes, aroused mainly fear, 
which soon, however, changed into gratitude when they 
became convinced that his generosity equaled his might. 
Where the villages were closer to one another the arri- 
val of the extraordinary travelers was announced from 
one village to the other by the beating of drums, for the 
negroes give notice of everything with the aid of drum- 
ming. It happened also that the entire populace would 
come out to meet them, being well disposed in advance. 


370 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


In one village, numbering one thousand heads, the 
local ruler, who was fetish-man and king in the same 
person, consented to show them “the great fetish,’ which 
was surrounded by such extraordinary veneration and 
fear that the people did not dare to approach the ebony 
chapel, covered with a rhinoceros hide, and make offerings 
any nearer than fifty paces. The king stated that this 
fetish not long before fell from the moon, that it was 
white and had a tail. Stas declared that he himself at 
the command of the ‘‘ Good Mzimu”’ sent it, and in saying 
that he did not deviate from the truth, for it appeared 
that the “great fetish’? was plainly one of the kites, 
despatched from Mount Linde. Both children were 
pleased with the thought that other kites in a suitable 
wind might fly still further. They determined to fly others 
from heights in the farther course of time. Stas made 
and sent out one that very same night, which convinced 
the negroes that the “Good Mzimu” and the white mas- 
ter also came to earth from the moon, and that they 
were divinities who could not be served with sufficient 
humility. 

But more delightful to Stas than these marks of hu- 
mility and homage was the news that Bassa-Narok lay 
only about thirteen days’ distance and that the denizens 
of the village in which they stopped at times received 
from that direction salt in exchange for doom-palm wine. 
The local king had even heard of Fumba, as the ruler of 
the people called “Doko.” Kali confirmed this by say- 
ing that more distant neighbors so called the Wahimas 
and Samburus. Less consoling was the news that on the 
shores of the great water a war was raging, and to go to 
Bassa-Narok it was necessary to cross immense, wild 
mountains and steep ravines, full of rapacious beasts. 
But Stas now did not much heed rapacious beasts, and 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 371 


he preferred mountains, though the wildest, to the low 
plain country where fever lay in wait for travelers. 

In high spirits they started. Beyond that populous 
village they came to only one settlement, very wretched 
and hanging like a nest on the edge of a chasm. After 
that the foot-hills began, cut rarely by deep fissures. On 
the east rose a hazy chain of peaks, which from a distance 
appeared entirely black. This was an unknown region 
to which they were bound, not knowing what might be- 
fall them before they reached Fumba’s domains. In the 
highlands which they passed trees were not lacking, but 
with the exception of dragon-trees and acacias standing 
alone they stood in clusters, forming small groves. The 
travelers stopped amid these clumps for refreshment and 
rest as well as for the abundant shade. 

Amid the trees birds swarmed. Various kinds of pigeons, 
big birds with beaks, which Stas called toucans, starlings, 
turtle-doves, and countless beautiful “bingales” flitted 
in the foliage or flew from one clump to another, singly 
and in flocks, changing color like the rainbow. Some trees 
appeared from a distance to be covered with many-colored 
flowers. Nell was particularly charmed by the sight of 
paradisaical fly-catchers and rather large, black birds, 
with a crimson lining to the wings, which emitted sounds 
like a pastoral fife. Charming woodpeckers, rosy on 
top and bright blue beneath, sped in the sun’s luster, 
catching in their flight bees and grasshoppers. On the 
treetops resounded the screams of the green parrot, and 
at times there reached them sounds as though of silvery 
bells, with which the small green-gray birds hidden under 
Adansonia leaves greeted one another. 

Before sunrise and after sunset flocks of native spar- 
rows flew by, so countless that were it not for their twitter 
and the rustle of their little wings they would be mis- 


372 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


taken for clouds. Stas assumed that it was their pretty 
little bills which rang so, while in daytime they were 
scattered on single clumps. 

But other birds flying in little flocks, which gave real 
concerts, filled both children with the greatest surprise 
and ecstasy. Every little flock consisted of five or six 
females and one male, with glittering metallic feathers. 
They sat on a single acacia in this particular manner: the 
male was perched on the top of the tree and the others 
lower, and after the first notes, which seemed like the 
tuning of their little throats, the male began a song and 
the others listened in silence. Only when he had finished 
did they repeat together in a chorus the last refrain of his 
song. After a brief pause, he resumed and finished, and 
they again repeated; after this the whole flock flew in 
a light wavy flight to the nearest acacia and the concert, 
composed of the soloist and chorus, again resounded in 
the southern stillness. The children could not listen 
enough to this. Nell, catching the leading tune of the 
concert, joined with the chorus and warbled in her thin 
little voice the notes resembling the quickly repeated 
sound of “tui, tui, tui, twiling-ting! ting!’ 

Once the children, following the winged musicians from 
tree to tree, went away over half a mile from the camp, 
leaving in it the three negroes, the King, and Saba. Stas 
was about to start on a hunting trip and did not 
want to take Saba with him, for fear that his barking 
might scare away the game. When the little flock finally 
flew to the last acacia on the other side of a wide ravine, the 
boy stopped Nell and said: 

“Now I will escort you to the King and after that I shall 
see whether there are any antelopes or zebras in the high 
jungle, for Kali says that the smoked meats will not last 
longer than two days.” 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 373 


“Why, I am big now,” answered Nell, who was always 
anxious to make it appear that she was not a little child, 
“so I will return alone. We can see the camp perfectly 
from here, and the smoke also.”’ 

“T am afraid that you may stray.” 

“T won’t stray. In a high jungle we might stray, but 
here, see how low the grass is!”’ 

“Still, something may happen to you.” 

“You yourself said that lions and panthers do not hunt 
in the daytime. Besides, you hear how the King is trum- 
peting from longing after us. What lion would dare to 
hunt there where the sound of the King reaches? ”’ 

And she began to importune: 

“Stas, dear, I will go alone, like a grown-up.” 

Stas hesitated for a while but finally assented. The 
camp and smoke really could be seen. The King, who 
longed for Nell, trumpeted every little while. In the low 
grass there was no danger of going astray, and as to lions, 
panthers, and hyenas, there plainly could be no talk of them 
as these animals seek prey during the night. The boy 
after all knew that nothing would afford the little maid 
greater pleasure than if he acted as though he did not 
regard her as a little child. 

“Very well,” he said, “go alone, but go directly, and do 
not tarry on the way.” 

“And may I pluck just those flowers?” she asked, 
pointing at a cusso bush, covered with an immense number 
of rosy flowers. 

“You may.” 

Saying this, he turned her about, pointed out to her 
once more for greater certainty the clump of trees from 
which the smoke of the camp issued and from which re- 
sounded the King’s trumpeting, after which he plunged 
into the high jungle growing on the brink of the ravine. 


374 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


But he had not gone a hundred paces when he was 
seized by uneasiness. “Why, it was stupid on my part,” 
he thought, ‘‘to permit Nell to walk alone in Africa. 
Stupid, stupid. She is such a child! I ought not to 
leave her for a step unless the King is with her. Who 
knows what may happen! Who knows whether under 
that rosy bush some kind of snake is not lying! Big 
apes can leap out of the ravine and carry her away from 
me or bite her. God forbid! I committed a terrible 
folly.” 

And his uneasiness changed into anger at himself, and 
at the same time into a terrible fear. Not reflecting any 
longer, he turned around as if stung by a sudden evil 
presentiment. Walking hurriedly, he held the rifle ready 
to fire, with that great dexterity which he had acquired 
through daily hunting, and advanced amid the thorny 
mimosas without any rustle, exactly like a panther when 
stealing to a herd of antelopes at night. After a while 
he shoved his head out of the high underwood, glanced 
about and was stupefied. 

Nell stood under a cusso bush with her little hand out- 
stretched; the rosy flowers, which she had dropped in 
terror, lay at her feet, and from the distance of about 
twenty paces a big tawny-gray beast was creeping towards 
her amid the low grass. 

Stas distinctly saw his green eyes fastened upon the 
little maid’s face, which was as white as chalk, his narrow 
head with flattened ears, his shoulder-blades raised up- 
ward on account of his lurking and creeping posture, his 
long body and yet longer tail, the end of which he moved 
with a light, cat-like motion. One moment more — one 
spring and it would be all over with Nell. 

At this sight the boy, hardened and inured to danger, 
in the twinkling of an eye understood that if he did not 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 375 


regain self-command, if he did not muster courage, if he 
shot badly and only wounded the assailant, even though 
heavily, the little maid must perish. But he could master 
himself to that degree that under the influence of these 
thoughts his hands and limbs suddenly became calm like 
steel springs. With one glance of the eye he detected a 
dark spot in the neighborhood of the beast’s ear, — with 
one light motion he directed the barrel of the rifle at it 
and fired. 

The report of the shot, Nell’s scream, and a short, shrill 
bleat resounded at the same moment. Stas jumped to- 
wards Nell, and covering her with his own body, he aimed 
again at the assailant. 

But the second shot was entirely unnecessary, for the 
dreadful cat lay like a rag, flattened out, with nose close to 
the ground and claws wedged in the grass — almost 
without a quiver. The bursting bullet had torn out the 
back of its head and the nape of its neck. Above its eyes, 
gory, torn, white convolutions of its brain oozed out. 

And the little hunter and Nell stood for some time, 
gazing now at the slain beast, then at each other, not 
being able to utter a word. But after that something 
strange happened. Now this same Stas, who a moment 
before would have astonished the most experienced 
hunter in the whole world by his calmness and coolness, 
suddenly became pale; his limbs began to tremble, tears 
flowed from his eyes, and afterwards he seized his head 
with the palms of his hands and began to repeat: 

“Oh, Nell! Nell! If I had not returned!” 

And he was swayed by such consternation, such be- 
lated despair, that every fiber within him quivered as 
if he had a fever. After an unheard-of exertion of his 
will and all the powers of his soul and body a moment 
of weakness and relaxation had come. Before his eyes 


376 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


was the picture of the dreadful beast, resting with blood- 
stained muzzle in some dark cave and tearing Nell’s body 
to pieces. And of course, this could have happened and 
would have happened if he had not returned. One minute, 
one second more and it would have been too late. This 
thought he plainly could not banish. 

Finally it ended in this, that Nell, recovering from her 
fear and alarm, had to comfort him. The little upright 
soul threw both her little arms around his neck and, 
weeping also, began to call to him loudly, as if she wanted 
to arouse him from slumber. 

“Stas! Stas! Nothing is the matter with me. See, 
nothing is the matter with me. Stas! Stas!” 

But he came to himself and grew calm only after a 
long time. Immediately after that Kali, who heard the 
shot not far from the camp and knew that the “Bwana 
kubwa” never fired in vain, came leading a horse to carry 
away the game. The young negro, glancing at the slain 
beast, suddenly retreated, and his face at once became 
ashen. 

“Wobo!” he shouted. 

The children now approached the carcass, already 
growing rigid. Up to that time Stas did not have an 
accurate idea as to what kind of beast of prey had fallen 
from his shot. At the first glance of the eye it seemed to 
the boy that it was an exceptionally large serval; never- 
theless, after closer examination he saw that it was not, 
for the slain beast exceeded the dimensions of even a 
leopard. His tawny skin was strewn with chestnut-hued 
spots, but his head was narrower than that of a leopard, 
which made him resemble somewhat a wolf; his legs were 
higher, paws wider, and his eyes were enormous. One of 
them was driven to the surface by a bullet, the other still 
stared at the children, fathomless, motionless, and awful. 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 377 


Stas came to the conclusion that this was a species of 
panther unknown to zodlogy, just as Lake Bassa-Narok 
was unknown to geography. 

Kali gazed continually with great terror at the beast 
stretched upon the ground, repeating in a low voice, as 
if he feared to awaken it: 

“Wobo! The great master killed a wobo!” 

But Stas turned to the little maid, placed his hand on 
her head, as though he desired definitely to assure himself 
that the wobo had not carried her away, and then said: 

“You see, Nell. You see that even if you are full- 
grown, you cannot walk alone through the jungle.” 

“True, Stas,’ answered Nell with a penitent mien, 
“but I can go with you or the King.”’ 

“Tell me how it was? Did you hear him draw near?”’ 

“No— Only a golden fly flew out of those flowers. 
So I turned around after it and saw how he crept out of 
the ravine.”’ 

“And what then?” 

“He stood still and began to look at me.” 

“Did he look long?” 

“Long, Stas. Only when I dropped the flowers and 
guarded myself from him with my hands did he creep 
towards me.”’ 

It occurred to Stas that if Nell were a negress she would 
have been pounced upon at once, and that in part she 
owed her preservation to the astonishment of the beast, 
which seeing before it for the first time a being unknown 
to it, for a while was uncertain what to do. 

A chill passed through the boy’s bones. 

“Thank God! Thank God that I returned! ” 

After which he asked further: 

“What were you thinking of at that moment?” 

“T wanted to call you, and —I could not — but —”’ 


378 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


“But what?” 

“But I thought that you would protect me —I my- 
self do not know —”’ 

Saying this she again threw her little arms around 
his neck, and he began to stroke her tufts of hair. 

“You are not afraid, now?” 

cc Nps: 

“My little Mzimu! My Mzimu! You see what 
Africa is.” 

“Yes, but you will kill every ugly beast?” 

wills 

Both again began to examine closely the rapacious 
beast. Stas, desiring to preserve its skin as a trophy 
ordered Kali to strip it off, but the latter from fear that 
another wobo might creep out of the ravine begged him 
not to leave him alone, and to the question whether he 
feared a wobo more than a lion, said: 

“A lion roars at night and does not leap over stockades, 
but a wobo in the white day can leap over a stockade 
and kill a great many negroes in the middle of the village, 
and after that he seizes one of them and eats him. Against 
a wobo a spear is no protection, nor a bow, only charms, 
for a wobo cannot be killed.” 

’ “Nonsense,” said Stas, “look at this one; is he not well 
slain?” 

“The white master kills wobo; the black man cannot 
kill him,” Kali replied. 

It ended in this, that the gigantic cat was tied by a 
rope to the horse and the horse dragged him to the camp. 
Stas, however, did not succeed in preserving his hide, for 
the King, who evidently surmised that the wobo wanted 
to carry off his little lady, fell into such a frenzy of rage 
that even Stas’ orders were unable to restrain him. Seiz- 
ing the slain beast with his trunk he tossed it twice into 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 379 


the air; after which he began to strike it against a tree 
and in the end trampled upon it with his legs and changed 
it into a shapeless, jelly-like mass. Stas succeeded in 
saving the jaws, which with the remnants of the head he 
placed on an ant-column on the road, and the ants 
cleaned the bones in the course of an hour so thoroughly 
that not an atom of flesh or blood remained. 


XIX 


Four days later Stas stopped for a longer rest on a hill 
somewhat similar to Mount Linde, but smaller and nar- 
rower. That same night Saba after a hard battle killed 
a big male baboon, whom he attacked at a time when 
the baboon was playing with the remnants of a kite, the 
second in order of those which they had sent before start- 
ing for the ocean. Stas and Nell, taking advantage of 
the stay, determined to glue new ones continually, but 
to fly them only when the monsoon blew from the west 
to the east. Stas placed great reliance upon this, that 
even if but one of them should fall into European or 
Arabian hands it would undoubtedly attract extraordinary 
attention and would cause an expedition to be despatched 
expressly for their rescue. For greater certainty, besides 
English and French inscriptions he added Arabian, which 
was not difficult for him, as he knew the Arabian language 
perfectly. 

Soon after starting from the resting-place, Kali an- 
nounced that in the mountain chain, which he saw in the 
east, he recognized some of the peaks which surrounded 
Bassa-Narok; nevertheless, he was not always certain, 
as the mountains assumed different shapes, according to 
the place from which they were viewed. After crossing 
a small valley overgrown with cusso bushes and looking 
like a lake of roses, they chanced upon a hut of lone 
hunters. There were two negroes in it and one of them 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 381 


was sick, having been bitten by a thread-like worm.! But 
both were so savage and stupid and in addition so terrified 
by the arrival of the unexpected guests, so certain that 
they would be murdered, that at first it was impossible 
to ascertain anything from them. But a few slices of 
smoked meat unloosened the tongue of the one who was 
not only sick, but famished, as his companion doled out 
food to him very stingily. From him, therefore, they 
learned that about a day’s journey away there lay strag- 
gling villages, governed by petty kings, who were inde- 
pendent of one another; and afterwards, beyond a steep 
mountain, the domain of Fumba began, extending on 
the west and south of the great water. When Stas heard 
this, a great load fell off his heart and new courage en- 
tered his soul. At any rate, they now were almost on the 
threshold of the land of the Wahimas. 

It was difficult to foresee how their further journey 
would progress; nevertheless, the boy in any event could 
expect that it would not be harder or even longer than 
that terrible journey from the banks of the Nile which 
they had undergone, thanks to his exceptional resourceful- 
ness, and during which he had saved Nell from destruction. 
He did not doubt that, thanks to Kali, the Wahimas 
would receive them with the greatest hospitality and 
would give every assistance to them. After all, he already 
well understood the negroes, knew how to act towards 
them, and was almost certain that, even without Kali, he 
would have been able somehow to take care of himself 
among them. 

“Do you know,” he said to Nell, “that we have passed 
more than one-half of the way from Fashoda, and that 
during the journey which is still before us we may meet 


1 Filandria medineusis, a worm as thin as thread, and a yard 
long. Its bite sometimes causes gangrene. 


382 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


very savage negroes, but now will not encounter any 
dervishes.” 

“T prefer negroes,’ the little maid replied. 

“Yes, while you pass as a goddess. I was kidnapped 
from Fayfim with a little lady whose name was Nell, and 
now am conducting some kind of Mzimu. I shall tell my 
father and Mr. Rawlinson that they never should call 
you anything else.” 

Her eyes began to sparkle and smile: 

“Perhaps we may see our papas in Mombasa.” 

“Perhaps. If it were not for that war on the shores 
of Bassa-Narok, we would be there sooner. Too bad 
that Fumba should be engaged in one at this time!” 

Saying this, he nodded at Kali. 

“Kali, did the sick negro hear of the war?”’ 

“He heard. It is a big war, very big — Fumba with 
Samburus.” 

“Well, what will happen? How shall we get through 
the Samburu country?” 

“The Samburus will run away before the great master, 
before the King and before Kali.” 

“ And before you?” 

“ And before Kali, because Kali has a rifle which thunders 
and kills.” 

Stas began to meditate upon the part which would 
devolve upon him in the conflict between the Wahima and 
Samburu tribes and determined to conduct his affairs in 
such a manner as not to retard his journey. He under- 
stood that their arrival would be an entirely unexpected 
event which would at once assure Fumba of a superiority. 
Accordingly it was necessary only to make the most of a 
victory. 

In the villages, of which the sick hunter spoke, they 
derived new information about the war. The reports 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 383 


were more and more accurate, but unfavorable for Fumba. 
The little travelers learned that he was conducting a 
defensive campaign, and that the Samburus under the 
command of their king, named Mamba, occupied a con- 
siderable expanse of the Wahima country and had cap- 
tured a multitude of cows. The villagers said that the 
war was raging principally on the southern border of the 
great water where on a wide and high rock King Fumba’s 
great “boma’’! was situated. 

This intelligence greatly grieved Kali, who begged 
Stas to cross the mountain separating them from the 
seat of the war as quickly as possible, assuring him, at 
the same time, that he would be able to find the road 
on which he could lead not only the horses but the King. 
He was already in a region which he knew well and now 
distinguished with great certainty peaks which were 
familiar to him from childhood. 

Nevertheless, the passage was not easy, and if it were 
not for the aid of the inhabitants of the last village, won 
by gifts, it would have been necessary to seek another 
road for the King. These negroes knew better than Kali 
the passes leading from that side of the mountain, and 
after two days’ arduous travel, during which great cold 
incommoded them during the nights, they successfully 
led the caravan to a depression in a crest of a mountain 
and from the mountain to a valley lying in the Wahima 
country. - 

Stas halted in the morning for a rest in this desolate val- 
ley, surrounded by underwood, while Kali, who begged 
to be allowed to scout on horseback in the direction of 
his father’s “boma,’”’ which was about a day’s distance, 
started that very night. Stas and Nell waited for him 


1 The same as a zareba in the Sudan. A great boma may also 
be a sort of fortress or fortified camp. 


384 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


the whole day with the greatest uneasiness and feared 
that he had perished or fallen into the hands of the 
enemy, and when finally he appeared on a lean and pant- 
ing horse, he himself was equally fatigued and so dejected 
that the sight of him excited pity. 

He fell at once at Stas’ feet and began to implore for 
help. 

“Oh, great master,” he said, “the Samburus have 
defeated Fumba’s warriors; they killed a multitude of 
them and dispersed those they did not kill. They besiege 
Fumba in a boma on Boko Mountain. Fumba and his 
warriors have nothing to eat in the boma and will perish 
if the great master does not kill Mamba and all the Sam- 
burus with Mamba.” 

Begging thus, he embraced Stas’ knees, while the latter 
knitted his brow and meditated deeply as to what was to 
be done, for in everything he was particularly concerned 
about Nell. 

“Where,” he finally asked, “are Fumba’s warriors 
whom the Samburus dispersed?” 

“Kali found them and they will be here at once.” 

“ How many are there?”’ 

The young negro moved the fingers of both hands and 
the toes of both his feet about a score of times, but it 
was evident that he could not indicate the exact number 
for the simple reason that he could not count above ten 
and every greater amount appeared to him as “wengi,” 
that is, a multitude. 

“Well, if they come here, place yourself at their head 
and go to your father’s relief.” 

“They fear the Samburus and will not go with Kali, 
but with the great master they will go and kill ‘wengi, 
wengi,’ of Samburu.” 

Stas pondered again. 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 385 


“No,” he finally said, “I can neither take the ‘ bibi’ to a 
battle nor leave her alone, and I will not do it for any- 
thing in the world.” 

At this Kali rose and folding his hands began to repeat 
incessantly: 

“Luela! Luela! Luela!”’ 

“What is ‘ Luela’?” Stas asked. 

“A great boma for Wahima and Samburu women,” 
the young negro replied. 

And he began to relate extraordinary things. Now 
Fumba and Mamba had been engaged in continual war- 
fare with each other fora great many years. They laid 
waste to the plantations of each other and carried away 
cattle. But there was a locality on the southern shore of 
the lake, called Luela, at which even during the fiercest 
war the women of both nations assembled in the market- 
place with perfect safety. It was a sacred place. The 
war raged only between men; no defeats or victories 
affected the fate of the women, who in Luela, behind a 
clay enclosure surrounding a spacious market-place, found 
an absolutely safe asylum. Many of them sought shelter 
there during the time of hostilities, with their children and 
goods. Others came from even distant villages with smoked 
meat, beans, millet, manioc, and various other supplies. 
The warriors were not allowed to fight a battle within a 
distance of Luela which ‘could be reached by the crowing of 
a rooster. They were likewise not permitted to cross the 
clay rampart with which the market-place was surrounded. 
They could only stand before the rampart and then the 
women would give them supplies of food attached to long 
bamboo poles. This was a very ancient custom and it 
never happened that either side violated it. The victors 
also were always concerned that the way of the defeated 
to Luela should be cut off and they did not permit them 


386 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


to approach the sacred place within a distance which 
could be reached by a rooster’s crow. 

“Oh, great master!” Kali begged, again embracing 
Stas’ knees, “great master, lead ‘the bibi’ to Luela, and 
you yourself take the King, take Kali, take the rifle, take 
fiery snakes and rout the wicked Samburus.” 

Stas believed the young negro’s narrative, for he had 
heard that in many localities in Africa war does not include 
women. He remembered how at one time in Port Said a 
certain young German missionary related that in the 
vicinity of the gigantic mountain, Kilima-Njaro, the 
immensely warlike Massai tribe sacredly observed this 
custom, by virtue of which the women of the contending 
parties walked with perfect freedom in certain market- 
places and were never subject to attack. The existence of 
this custom on the shores of Bassa-Narok greatly de- 
lighted Stas, for he could be certain that no danger threat- 
ened Nell on account of the war. He determined also to 
start with the little maid without delay for Luela, all the 
more because before the termination of the war they could 
not think of a further journey for which not only the aid 
of the Wahimas but that of the Samburus was necessary. 

Accustomed to quick decisions, he already knew how he 
should act. To free Fumba, to rout the Samburus but 
not to permit a too bloody revenge, and afterwards to 
command peace and reconcile the belligerents, appeared 
to him an imperative matter not only for himself but also 
most beneficial for the negroes. “Thus it should be and 
thus it shall be!’’ he said to himself in his soul, and in the 
meantime, desiring to comfort the young negro for whom 
he felt sorry, he announced that he did not refuse aid. 

“How far is Luela from here?” he asked. 

“A half day’s journey.” 

“Listen, then! we will convey the ‘bibi’ there at once, 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 387 


after which I shall ride on the King and drive away the 
Samburus from your father’s boma. You shall ride with 
me and shall fight with them.” 

“Kali will kill them with the rifle!” 

And passing at once from despair to joy, he began to 
leap, laugh, and thank Stas with as much ardor as though 
the victory was already achieved. But further outbursts 
of gratitude and mirth were interrupted by the arrival of 
the warriors, whom he had gathered together during his 
scouting expedition and whom he commanded to appear 
before the white master. They numbered about three 
hundred; they were armed with shields of hippopotamus 
leather, with javelins and knives. Their heads were 
dressed with feathers, baboon manes, and ferns. At the 
sight of an elephant in the service of a man, at the sight 
of the white faces, Saba, and the horses, they were seized 
by the same fear and the same amazement which had pos- 
sessed the negroes in those villages through which the 
children previously passed. But Kali warned them in 
advance that they would behold the “Good Mzimu” and 
the mighty master “who kills lions, who killed a wobo, 
whom the elephant fears, who crushes rocks, lets loose 
fiery snakes,” etc. So, instead of running away, they stood 
in a long row in silence, full of admiration, with the whites 
of their eyes glistening, uncertain whether they should 
kneel or fall on their faces. But at the same time they were 
full of faith that if these extraordinary beings would help 
them then the victories of the Samburus would soon end. 
Stas rode along the file on the elephant, just like a com- 
mander who is reviewing his army, after which he ordered 
Kali to repeat his promise that he would liberate Fumba, 
and issued an order that they should start for Luela. 

Kali rode with a few warriors in advance to announce 
to the women of both tribes that they would have the 


388 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


inexpressible and unheard-of pleasure of seeing the “Good 
Mzimu,” who would arrive on an elephant. The matter 
was so extraordinary that even those women who, being 
members of the Wahima tribe, recognized Kali as the 
lost heir to the throne, thought that he was jesting with 
them and were surprised that he wanted to jest at a 
time that was so heavy for the whole tribe and Fumba. 
When, however, after the lapse of a few hours they saw 
a gigantic elephant approaching the ramparts and on it 
a white palanquin, they fell into a frenzy of joy and 
received the ‘‘Good Mzimu,” with such shouts and such 
yells that Stas at first mistook their voices for an out- 
burst of hatred, and the more so as the unheard-of ugli- 
ness of the negresses made them look like witches. 

But these were manifestations of extraordinary honor. 
When Nell’s tent was set in a corner of the market-place 
under the shade of two thick trees, the Wahima and 
Samburu women decorated it with garlands and wreaths 
of flowers, after which they brought supplies of food that 
would have sufficed a month, not only for the divinity 
herself but for her retinue. The enraptured women even 
prostrated themselves before Mea, who, attired in rosy 
percale and a few strings of blue beads, as a humble ser- 
vant of the Mzimu, appeared to them as a being far 
superior to the common negresses. 

Nasibu, out of regard for his childish age, was admitted 
behind the rampart and at once took advantage of the 
gifts brought for Nell so conscientiously that after an 
hour his little abdomen resembled an African war drum. 


XX 


Sras, after a brief rest under the ramparts of Luela, 
started with Kali before sunset at the head of three hun- 
dred warriors for Fumba’s boma, for he wanted to attack 
the Samburus during the night, relying upon the fact that 
in the darkness the fiery snakes would create a greater 
sensation. The march from Luela to Mount Boko, on 
which Fumba was defending himself, counting the rests, 
required nine hours, so that they appeared before the 
fortress at about three o’clock in the morning. Stas 
halted the warriors and, having ordered them to preserve 
the deepest silence, began to survey the situation. The 
summit of the mountain on which the defenders had 
sought refuge was dark; on the other hand the Sam- 
burus burnt a multitude of camp-fires. Their glare 
illuminated the steep walls of the rock and the gigantic 
trees growing at its foot. From a distance came the 
hollow sounds of drums and the shouts and songs of war- 
riors who evidently were not sparing in their indulgence 
of pombe,! desiring already to celebrate a near and de- 
cisive victory. Stas advanced at the head of his division 
still farther, so that finally not more than a hundred paces 
separated him from the last camp-fires. There were no 
signs of camp sentinels and the moonless night did not 
permit the savages to catch sight of the King who, be- 


1 A beer of millet with which the negroes intoxicate them- 
selves. 


390 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


sides, was screened by the underwood. Stas, sitting on 
his neck, quietly issued the final orders, after which he 
gave Kali the signal to light one of the sky-rockets. A 
red ribbon flew up, hissing, high in the dark sky, after 
which, with an explosive sound, it scattered into a bouquet 
of red, blue, and golden stars. All voices became hushed 
and a moment of gloomy silence ensued. A few seconds 
later two more fiery snakes flew out, as though with an 
infernal hiss, but this time they were aimed horizontally 
directly at the Samburu camp; simultaneously resounded 
the King’s roar and the loud cries of the three hundred 
Wahimas who, armed with assagais,! maces, and knives, 
rushed ahead with irrepressible speed. A battle began, 
which was the more terrible because it took place in the 
darkness, as all the camp-fires in the confusion were at 
once trampled out. But, at the very beginning, blind 
terror at the sight of the fiery snakes seized the Sam- 
burus. What was happening passed entirely beyond 
their understanding. They only knew that they were 
attacked by some terrible beings and thdt horrible and 
unavoidable destruction threatened them. A _ greater 
part of them ran away before they could be reached by 
the spears and maces of the Wahimas. A hundred and 
a few tens of warriors, whom Mamba succeeded in rallying 
about him, offered stubborn resistance; when, however, 
in the flashes of the shots, they saw a gigantic beast and 
on him a person dressed in white, and when their ears 
were dinned with the reports of the weapon which Kali 
from time to time discharged, their hearts sank. Fumba 
on the mountain, seeing the first sky-rocket, which burst 
in the heights, fell on the ground from fright and lay as 
though dead for a few minutes. But, regaining con- 
sciousness, he imagined from the desperate yells of the 
1 Negro spears. 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 391 


warriors one thing, namely, that some kind of spirits were 
exterminating the Samburus below. Then the thought 
flashed through his mind that if he did not come to the 
aid of those spirits, he might incur their wrath, and as 
the extermination of the Samburus was his salvation, he 
mustered all his warriors about him and sallied forth from 
a secret side exit of the boma and cut off the road of a 
greater part of the fugitives. The battle now changed 
into a massacre. The Samburu drums ceased to beat. 
In the darkness, which was rent only by the red flashes 
cast by Kali’s rifle, resounded the howls of the men being 
killed, the hollow blows of the maces against shields and 
the groans of the wounded. Nobody begged for mercy, 
for mercy is unknown to negroes. Kali, from a fear that 
in the darkness and confusion he might wound his own 
people, finally ceased to fire, and seizing Gebhr’s sword 
rushed with it into the midst of the enemies. The Sam- 
burus could now flee from the mountains towards their 
frontiers only by way of one wide pass, but as Fumba 
blocked this pass with his warriors, out of the whole host 
only those were safe who, throwing themselves upon the 
ground, permitted themselves to be taken alive, though 
they knew that a cruel slavery awaited them, or even 
immediate death at the hands of the victors. Mamba 
defended himself heroically until a blow of a mace crushed 
his skull. His son, young Faru, fell into Fumba’s hand, 
who ordered him bound, as a future sacrifice of gratitude 
to the spirits which had come to his assistance. 

Stas did not drive the terrible King into the battle; 
he permitted him only to trumpet to increase the terror 
of the enemies. He himself did not fire a single shot from 
his rifle at the Samburus, for in the first place he had 
promised little Nell on leaving Luela that he would not 
kill any one, and again he actually had no desire to kill 


392 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


people who had done no harm to him or Nell. It was 
enough that he assured the Wahimas a victory and freed 
Fumba, who was besieged in a great boma. Soon, also, 
when Kali came running with news of a definite victory, 
he issued an order for the cessation of the battle, which 
raged yet in the underwood and rocky recesses and 
which was prolonged by the implacable hatred of old 
Fumba. 

However, before Kali succeeded in quelling it, it was 
daylight. The sun, as is usual under the equator, rolled 
quickly from beyond the mountains, and flooded with a 
bright light the battle-field on which lay over two hundred 
Samburu corpses pierced by spears or crushed by maces. 
After a certain time, when the battle finally ceased and 
only the joyful yells of the Wahimas disturbed the morn- 
ing’s quiet, Kali again appeared, but with a face so de- 
jected and sad that it could be perceived even from a 
distance that some kind of misfortune had overtaken 
him. 

In fact, when he stood before Stas, he began to strike 
his head with his fists and exclaim sorrowfully: 

“Oh, great master! — Fumba kufa! Fumba kufa!” 
(is slain). 

“Slain?’’ Stas repeated. 

Kali related what had happened, and from his words 
it appeared that the cause of the occurrence was only 
the inveterate hatred of Fumba, for after the battle 
had ceased, he still wanted to give the last blow to 
two Samburus, and from one of them he received the 
stroke of a spear. 

The news spread among all the Wahimas in the twin- 
kling of an eye and around Kali a mob gathered. A few 
moments later six warriors bore on spears the old king, 
who was not killed but fatally wounded. Before his 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 393 


death he desired to see the mighty master, the real con- 
queror of the Samburus, sitting on an elephant. 

Accordingly uncommon admiration struggled in his 
eyes with the dusk with which death was dimming them, 
and his pale lips, stretched by “pelele,” whispered lowly: 

“Yancig! Yancig!” 

But immediately after that his head reclined backward, 
his mouth opened wide — and he died. 

Kali, who loved him, with tears threw himself upon 
his breast. Among the warriors some began to strike 
their heads, others to proclaim Kali king and to “ yancig”’ 
in his honor. Some fell before the young ruler on their 
faces. No one raised a voice in opposition, as the right 
to rule belonged to Kali not only by law, as the oldest 
son of Fumba, but also as a conqueror. 

In the meantime, in the huts of the fetish-men in the 
boma on the mountain-top, resounded the savage din 
of the wicked Mzimu, the same as Stas had heard in the 
first negro village, but this time it was not directed against 
him but was demanding the death of the prisoners for 
killing Fumba. The drums began torumble. The warriors 
formed in a long host of three men in a row and commenced 
a war dance around Stas, Kali, and Fumba’s corpse. 

“Oa, Oa! Yach, yach!” all voices repeated; all heads 
nodded right and left in unison, the whites of their eyes 
glistened, and the sharp points of the spears twinkled 
in the morning sun. 

Kali rose and turning to Stas, said: 

“Great master, bring the ‘bibi’ to the boma and let her 
dwell in Fumba’s hut. Kali is king of the Wahimas and 
the great master is Kali’s king.” 

Stas nodded his head in sign of assent but remained 
a few hours, for he and the King were entitled to a rest. 

He did not leave until towards the evening. During 


394 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


his absence the bodies of the slain Samburus were removed 
and thrown into a neighboring deep abyss, over which at 
once a swarm of vultures flocked; the fetish-men made 
preparations for Fumba’s funeral and Kali assumed 
authority as the only master of the life and death of all 
his subjects. 

“Do you know what Kali is?” Stas asked the little 
maid on the return journey from Luela. 

Nell gazed at him with surprise. 

“He is your boy.” 

“Aha! A boy! Kali is now king of all the Wahimas.” 

This news delighted Nell immensely. This sudden 
change, thanks to which the former slave of the cruel 
Gebhr, and later the humble servant of Stas, became a 
king, seemed to her something extraordinary and at the 
same time exceedingly amusing. 

Nevertheless, Linde’s remark that negroes were like 
children who were incapable of remembering what tran- 
spired the day before, did not appear just in its application 
to Kali, for as soon as Stas and Nell stopped at the foot 
of Mount Boko the young monarch hurried to meet them; 
he greeted them with the usual marks of humility and 
joy and repeated the words which he had previously 
uttered: 

“Kali is the king of the Wahimas, and the great master 
is Kali’s king.” 

And he surrounded both with an adoration almost 
divine and prostrated himself, particularly before Nell, 
in the presence of all the people, for he knew from experi- 
ence, acquired during the journey, that the great master 
cared more for the little “bibi’”’ than for himself. 

Leading them solemnly to the capital boma on the sum- 
mit he surrendered to them Fumba’s hut, which resem- 
bled a great shed divided into several rooms. He ordered 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 395 


the Wahima women, who came with them from Luela, 
and who could not look enough at the “Good Mzimu,”’ to 
place a utensil with honey and sour milk in the first room, 
and when he learned that the “ bibi,” tired by the journey, 
had fallen asleep, he commanded all the inhabitants to 
observe the deepest silence under the penalty of cutting 
out their tongues. But he decided to honor them still 
more solemnly, and with this in view, when Stas, after a 
brief rest, came out of the shed, he approached him and, 
prostrating himself, said: 

“To-morrow Kali shall order Fumba to be buried 
and shall cause as many slaves to be cut down for Fumba 
and for Kali as both have fingers on their hands, but for 
the ‘bibi’ and for the great master, Kali shall order Faru, 
the son of Mamba, to be cut to pieces and ‘ wengi, wengi’ 
of other Samburus who were captured by the Wahimas.”’ 

And Stas knitted his brows and began to gaze with 
his steely eyes into Kali’s eyes; after which he answered: 

“T forbid you to do that.”’ 

“Master,” the young negro said in an uncertain voice, 
“the Wahimas always cut down slaves. The old king 
dies — cut them down; the young succeeds — cut them 
down. If Kali did not command them to be cut down, 
the Wahimas would think that Kali is not king.” 

Stas looked more and more sternly: 

“What of it?” he asked. “Did you not learn anything 
on Mount Linde, and are you not a Christian?” 

“T am, oh, great master!”’ 

“Listen, then! The Wahimas have black brains, but 
your brains ought to be white. You, as soon as you became 
their king, should enlighten them and teach them what 
you learned from me and from the ‘bibi.’ They are like 
jackals and like hyenas—make men of them. Tell them it 
is not allowable to cut down captives, for the Great Spirit 


396 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


to whom I and the ‘bibi’ pray avenges the blood of the 
defenseless. The white people do not murder slaves, and 
you want to be worse to them than Gebhr was to you 
— you, a Christian! Shame on you, Kali. Change the 
ancient and abominable customs of the Wahimas for good 
ones and God will bless you for this and the ‘ bibi’ will not 
say that Kali is a savage, stupid, bad negro.” 

A horrible din in the huts of the fetish-men deafened 
his words. Stas waved his hand and continued: 

“T hear! That is your wicked Mzimu, which wants 
the blood and heads of the captives. But you, of course, 
know what that means and it will not frighten you. 
Well, I say this to you: take a bamboo stick, go to each 
hut and thrash the hides of the fetish-men until they 
begin to roar louder than their drums. Cast out the 
drums into the middle of the boma, in order that all the 
Wahimas may see and understand how these knaves 
have deceived them. Tell your foolish Wahimas, at 
the same time, that which you yourself announced to 
M’Rua’s people, that wherever the ‘Good Mzimu’ sojourns 
no human blood can be shed.”’ 

Stas’ words evidently persuaded the young king, as he 
glanced at him boldly and said: 

“Kali will beat, oh, beat the fetish-men; throw out 
the drums and tell the Wahimas that there where the 
‘Good Mzimu’ is it is not allowable to kill any one. But 
what shall Kali do with Faru and with the Samburus 
who killed Fumba?”’ 

Stas, who already had formed his plans for everything 
and who only waited for this question, answered at once: 

“Your father perished and his father perished, there- 
fore it is a head for a head. You shall conclude a blood 
alliance with Faru, after which the Wahimas and Sam- 
burus shall dwell in harmony; they shall peacefully culti- 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 397 


vate manioc, and hunt. You shall tell Faru of the Great 
Spirit, who is the Father of all white and black people, 
and Faru shall love you like a brother.” 

“Kali now has a white brain,” answered the young 
negro. 

And with this the conversation ended. A while later 
again resounded wild roars; this time they were not the 
roars of the wicked Mzimu but only of both fetish-men, 
whom Kali cudgelled with all his might and main. The 
warriors, who below continually surrounded the King 
in a compact circle, came running up as fast as their legs 
could carry them to see what was happening, and soon 
became convinced with their own eyes and from the con- 
fessions of the fetish-men that the bad Mzimu before 
which heretofore they trembled was only a hollowed-out 
trunk with monkey skin stretched over it. 

And young Faru, when he was informed that in honor 
of the “Good Mzimu” and the great master his head 
would not be dashed to pieces, but that Kali was to eat a 
piece of him and he a piece of Kali, could hardly believe 
his ears, and on learning to whom he was indebted for 
his life, lay on his face on the ground before the entrance 
to Fumba’s hut, and remained there until Nell came out 
and ordered him torise. Then he embraced with his black 
hands her little foot and placed it on his head in sign that 
through his entire life he desired to remain her slave. 

The Wahimas were greatly astonished at the commands 
of the young king, but the presence of the unknown guests 
whom they regarded as the most powerful sorcerers in 
the world had the effect of disarming all opposition. 
The older people, however, were displeased with the new 
customs, and both fetish-men, understanding that their 
prosperous days were forever over, swore in their souls a 
terrible revenge against the king and the new arrivals. 


398 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


In the meantime they buried Fumba with great solem- 
nity at the foot of the rock below the boma. Kali placed 
above his grave a cross made of bamboo, while the negroes 
left a few utensils with pombe and smoked meat “in order 
that he should not annoy and haunt them during the 
night-time.” 

Mamba’s body, after the conclusion of the blood 
brotherhood between Kali and Faru, was surrendered 
to the Samburus. 


XXI 


“NELL, can you enumerate our journeys from Fayfim?” 
Stas asked. 

cal, 

Saying this the little maid raised her eyebrows and 
began to count on her little fingers. 

“At once. From Fayiim to Khartim — that is one; 
from Khartim to Fashoda — that is the second; from 
Fashoda to that ravine in which we found the King — 
that is the third; and from Mount Linde to the lake — that 
is the fourth.” 

“Yes. There probably is not another fly in the world 
which has flown over such a piece of Africa.” 

“That fly would look queer without you.” 

Stas began to laugh. 

“A fly on an elephant! A fly on an elephant 

“But not a tsetse! Honestly, Stas — not a tsetse.” 

“No,” he answered, “a very agreeable fly.” 

Nell, pleased with the praise, propped her little nose on 
his arm; after which she asked: 

“When shall we start on our fifth journey?” 

“As soon as you have rested thoroughly, and I can 
instruct those men whom Kali has promised to me how 
to shoot a little.” 

“And shall we ride long?”’ 

“Long, Nell—long! Who knows whether it will not 
be the longest journey?” 

“ And you, as usual, will be equal to it.” 


1»? 


400 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


“T must be.” 

Somehow Stas had managed to shift for himself as best 
he could, but this fifth journey required great prepara- 
tions. They were to venture into unknown regions in 
which they were threatened with manifold dangers, so the 
boy desired to be protected against them better than he 
previously had been. With this in view he gave instruc- 
tions in shooting from Remington rifles to forty young 
Wahimas who were to form the principal armed force and 
in a measure Nell’s body-guard. More rifle-men he could 
not have, as the King carried only twenty-five rifles and 
the horses bore only fifteen. The rest of the army was 
to consist of one hundred Wahimas and a hundred Sam- 
burus, armed with spears and bows, whom Faru promised 
to furnish, and whose presence removed many difficulties 
of travel through the wide and wild country inhabited by 
the Samburu tribe. Stas, not without a certain pride, 
thought that having escaped during his journey from 
Fashoda with only Nell and the two negroes, without 
any means, he might come to the ocean coast at the head 
of two hundred armed men with an elephant and horses. 
He pictured to himself what would be said by the Eng- 
lish people who prized resourcefulness highly, but above 
all he thought of what his father and Mr. Rawlinson 
would say. The thought of this sweetened all his toils. 

Nevertheless, he was not at all at ease as to his own and 
Nell’s fate, for he surely would pass through the pos- 
sessions of the Wahimas and the Samburus without any 
difficulties, but after that, what? Upon what tribes 
would he yet chance, into what regions would he enter, and 
how much travel still remained? Linde’s directions were 
too vague. Stas was greatly worried because he actually 
did not know where he was, as that part of Africa ap- 
peared on the maps from which he studied geography 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 401 


entirely like a blank page. He also had no idea what this 
Lake Bassa-Narok was and how great it was. He was 
on its southern border, at which the width of the overflow 
might amount to ten miles. But neither the Wahimas 
nor the Samburus could tell him how far the lake ex- 
tended to the north. Kali, who knew the Kiswahili 
language passably well, answered all questions with, 
“Bali! bali!”? which meant “far! far!” but this was all 
that Stas could elicit from him. 

As the mountains on the north, shutting off the view, 
appeared quite near, he assumed that it was a small, 
brackish lake, like many others in Africa. A few years later 
it appeared how great an error he committed.! For the 
time being, however, he was not concerned so much about 
ascertaining the exact dimensions of Bassa-Narok as 
whether some river did not flow out of it, which after- 
wards coursed to the ocean. The Samburus — subjects 
of Faru — claimed that east of their country lay a waterless 
desert which no one had yet traversed. Stas, who knew 
negroes from the narratives of travelers, from Linde’s 
adventures, and partly from his own experience, was 
aware that when the dangers and the hardships began, 
many of his men would desert to return home, and per- 
haps not one would remain. In such case he would find 
himself in the wilds and desert with only Nell, Mea, and 
little Nasibu. Above all he understood that a lack of 
water would disperse the caravan at once, and for that 
reason he inquired so eagerly about the river. Going 
along its course, they really might avoid those horrors to 
which travelers in waterless regions are exposed. 

But the Samburus could not tell him anything definite; 
he himself could not make any longer explorations of the 


1 It was the great lake which was discovered in 1888 by the 
celebrated traveler Teleki and which he named Lake Rudolf. 


402 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


eastern shore of the lake, for other employment kept him 
at Boko. He reckoned that in all probability none of 
the kites that he flew from Mount Linde and from the 
negro villages had crossed the chain of mountains sur- 
rounding Bassa-Narok. For this reason it was necessary 
to make and fly new ones, for these the wind could now 
carry across the flat desert far away — perhaps as far 
as the ocean. Now this work he had to supervise per- 
sonally. For though Nell could glue them perfectly, 
and Kali had learned how to fly them, neither of them 
were able to inscribe on them all that it was necessary to 
write. Stas regarded this as a matter of great importance 
which it was not allowable to neglect. 

So this labor occupied so much of his time that the 
caravan was not ready for the journey until three weeks 
had elapsed. But on the eve of the day on which they 
were to start at daybreak the young King of the Wahimas 
appeared before Stas and, bowing profoundly, said: 

“Kali goes with the master and the ‘ bibi’ as far as the 
water on which great pirogues of the white people float.” 

Stas was touched by this proof of attachment; never- 
theless, he thought that he had no right to take the boy 
with him upon such an immense journey, a return from 
which might be uncertain. 

“Why do you want to go with us?” he asked. 

“Kali loves the great master and the ‘ bibi.’” 

Stas placed the palm of his hand on Kali’s woolly head. 

“T know, Kali, that you are an honest and good boy. 
But what will become of your kingdom and who will 
govern the Wahimas in your place?” 

“M’Tana, brother of Kali’s mother.” 

Stas knew that strife for rulership raged among the 
negroes and power lured them the same as the white 
people; so he pondered for a while and said: 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 403 


“No, Kali. I cannot take you with me. You must 
remain with the Wahimas in order to make good people 
of them.” 

“Kali will return to them.” 

“M’Tana has many sons— Well, what will happen if 
he himself should desire to become king and leave the 
kingdom to his sons, and should induce the Wahimas to 
expel you?” 

“M’Tana is good. He would not do that.” 

“But if he should do it?” 

“Then Kali will again go to the great water — to the 
great master and the ‘ bibi.’” 

“We shall not be there then.” 

“Then Kali will sit beside the water and weep from 
grief.” 

Speaking thus he crossed his hands above his head; 
after a while he whispered: 

“ Kali loves the great master and the ‘ bibi’ very much — 
very much!” 

And two big tears piistenadi: in his eyes. 

Stas hesitated how to act. He was sorry for Kali, 
nevertheless, he did not assent to his entreaty. He under- 
stood — not to speak of the dangers of return — that if 
M’Tana or the fetish-men stirred up the negroes, then the 
boy was threatened not only with expulsion from the 
country but with death. 

“Tt is better for you to remain,” he said, “better without 
question.” 

But while he was saying this, Nell entered. Through 
the thin mat which separated the rooms she had heard 
perfectly the whole conversation, and now seeing tears in 
Kali’s eyes she began to wipe his eyelids with her little 
fingers, and afterward turned to Stas: 

“Kali is going with us,” she said with great firmness. 


404 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


“Oho!” answered Stas, somewhat ruffled, “that does 
not depend upon you.” 

“Kali is going with us,” she repeated. 

“No, he will not go.” | 

Suddenly she stamped her little foot. 

“T want it.” 

And she burst into a genuine flood of tears. 

Stas stared at her with the greatest amazement, as though 
he did not understand what had happened to the little 
maid who was always so good and gentle, but seeing that 
she stuck both of her little fists in her eyes and, like a 
little bird, caught the air with her opened mouth, he 
began to exclaim with great haste: 

“Kali is going with us! He is going! He is going! 
Why are you crying? How unbearable you are! He is 
going! My, how pale you are! He is going! Do you 
hear?” 


And thus it happened. Stas was ashamed until the 
evening of his weakness for the “Good Mzimu,” and the 
“Good Mzimu” having carried her point, was as quiet, 
gentle, and obedient as ever. | 


XXIT 


THE caravan started at daybreak on the following day. 
The young negro was happy, the little female despot 
was now gentle and obedient, and Stas was full of 
energy and hope. They were accompanied by one hun- 
dred Samburus and one hundred Wahimas — forty of 
the latter were armed with Remingtons from which they 
could shoot passably well. The white commander who 
drilled them during three weeks knew, indeed, that in a 
given case they would create more noise than harm, but 
thought that in meeting savages noise plays no less a 
part than bullets, and he was pleased with his guards. 
They took with them a great supply of manioc, cakes 
baked of big, fat white ants and ground into flour, as 
well as a great quantity of smoked meats. Between ten 
and twenty women went with the caravan. They carried 
various good things for Nell and water-bags made of 
antelope skin. Stas, from the King’s back, kept order, 
issued commands — perhaps not so much because they 
were necessary, but because he was intoxicated by the 
role of a commander— and with pride viewed his little 
army. 

“Tf I wanted to,” he said to himself, “I could remain 
the king of all the people of Doko, like Beniowsky in 
Madagascar.” 

And a thought flitted through his head whether it 
would not be well to return here sometime, conquer a great 
tract of country, civilize the negroes, found in that locality 


406 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


a new Poland, or even start at the head of a drilled black 
host for the old. As he felt, however, that there was 
something ludicrous in the idea and as he doubted whether 
his father would permit him to play the réle of the Mace- 
donian Alexander in Africa, he did not confide his plans to 
Nell, who certainly would be the only person in the world 
ready to applaud them. 

And besides, before subjugating that region of Africa, 
it was necessary above all things to get out of it, so he 
occupied himself with nearer matters. The caravan 
stretched out in a long string. Stas, sitting on the King’s 
neck, decided to ride at the end in order to have every- 
thing and everybody in sight. 

Now when the people passed by him, one after another, 
he observed, not without surprise, that the two fetish- 
men, M’Kunje and M’Pua — the same who had received 
a drubbing at Kali’s hands — belonged to the caravan 
and that they set out with packs on their heads together 
with the others on the road. 

So he stopped them and asked: 

“Who ordered you to go?” 

“The king,” they answered, bowing humbly. 

But under the mask of humility their eyes glittered 
savagely and their faces reflected such malice that Stas 
at once wanted to drive them away, and if he did not 
do it, it was only because he did not want to undermine 
Kali’s authority. 

Nevertheless, he summoned him at once. 

“Did you order the fetish-men to go with us?” he asked. 

“Kali ordered it, for Kali is wise.” 

“Then I shall ask you why your wisdom did not leave 
them at home?” 

“Because if M’Kunje and M’Pua remain they would 
instigate the Wahimas to kill Kali upon his return, but 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 407 


if we take them with us Kali will be able to watch 
them.” 

Stas meditated for a while and said: 

“Perhaps you are right; nevertheless, do not lose 
sight of them, day or night, for they have a wicked look.” 

“Kali will have bamboo sticks,’ the young negro 
replied. 

The caravan proceeded. Stas at the last moment 
ordered the guard, armed with Remingtons, to close the 
procession, as they were men chosen by him, and most 
reliable. During the drills, which lasted quite long, they 
had become attached in a certain degree to this young 
commander, and at the same time, as the nearest: to his 
august person, they regarded themselves as something 
better than the others. At present they were to watch 
over the whole caravan and seize those who should take 
a fancy to desert. It was to be foreseen that when the 
hardships and dangers began deserters would not be 
lacking. 

But the first day everything proceeded in the best 
possible manner. The negroes with the burdens on their 
heads, each one armed with a bow and a few smaller 
javelins or so-called assagais, extended in a long serpentine 
column amidst the jungle. For some time they skirted 
along the southern shore of the lake over the level ground, 
but as the lake was surrounded on all sides by high peaks 
they had to climb mountains when they turned to the 
east. The old Samburus, who knew that locality, claimed 
that the caravan would have to cross high passes be- 
tween the mountains which they called Kullal and Inro, 
after which they would enter into the Ebene country, 
lying south of Borani. Stas understood that they could 
not go directly east for he remembered that Mombasa 
was situated a few degrees beyond the equator and there- 


408 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


fore considerably south of that unknown lake. Possessing 
a few compasses which Linde left, he did not fear that he 
would stray from the proper road. 

The first night they lodged upon a wooded hill. With 
the coming of darkness a few scores of camp-fires blazed, 
at which the negroes roasted dried meat and ate a dough 
of manioc roots, picking it out of the utensils with their 
fingers. After appeasing their hunger and thirst they 
were gossiping among themselves as to where the “ Bwana 
kubwa” would lead them and what they would receive 
from him for it. Some sang, squatting and stirring up 
the fire, while all talked so long and so loudly that Stas 
finally had to command silence in order that Nell should 
sleep. 

The night was very cold, but the next day, when the 
first rays of the sun illuminated the locality, it became warm 
at once. About sunrise the little travelers saw a strange 
sight. They were just approaching a little lake over 
a mile wide, or rather a great slough formed by the rains 
in the mountain valley, when suddenly Stas, sitting 
with Nell on the King, and looking about the region 
through a field-glass, exclaimed: 

“Took, Nell! Elephants are going to the water.” 

In fact, at a distance of about five hundred yards could 
be seen a small herd composed of five heads, approaching 
the little lake slowly one after the other. 

“These are some kind of strange elephants,” Stas 
said, gazing at them with keen attention; “they are 
smaller than the King, their ears are far smaller, and I 
do not see any tusks at all.” 

In the meantime the elephants entered the water but 
did not stop at the shore, as the King usually did, and 
did not begin to splash with their trunks, but going 
continually ahead they plunged deeper and deeper until 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 409 


finally only their backs protruded above the water like 
boulders of stone. 

“What is this? They are diving!” Stas exclaimed. 

The caravan approached considerably towards the 
shore and finally was close by it. Stas halted it and began 
to stare with extraordinary astonishment now at Nell, 
then at the lake. 

The elephants could not be seen at all; in the smooth 
watery pane even with the naked eye could be distinguished 
five spots like round red flowers, jutting above the surface 
and rocking with a light motion. 

“They are standing on the bottom and those are the 
tips of their trunks,”’ Stas said, not believing his own eyes. 
Then he shouted to Kali: 

“Kali, did you see them?” 

“Yes, master, Kali sees. Those are water-elephants, 
answered the young negro quietly. 

“Water-elephants?”’ 

“Kali has seen them often.” 

“ And do they live in water?” 

“During the night they go to the jungle and feed 
and during the day they live in the lake the same as a 
kiboko (hippopotamus). They do not come out until 
after sunset.” 

Stas for a long time could not recover from his sur- 
prise, and were it not that it was urgent for him to proceed 
on his way he would have halted the caravan until 
night in order to view better these singular animals. But 
it occurred to him that the elephants might emerge from 


91 


1 Africa contains many uninvestigated secrets. Rumors of 
water-elephants reached the ears of travelers but were given no 
credence. Recently M. Le Petit, sent to Africa by the Museum 
of Natural History, Paris, saw water-elephants on the shores 
of Lake Leopold in Congo. An account of this can be found 
in the German periodical ‘‘ Kosmos,” No. 6. 


410 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


the water on the opposite side, and even if they came out 
nearer it would be difficult to observe them closely in 
the dusk. 

He gave the signal for the departure, but on the road 
said to Nell: 

“Well! We have seen something which the eyes of 
no European have ever seen. And do you know what I 
think? — that if we reach the ocean safely nobody will 
believe us when I tell them that there are water-elephants 
in Africa.” 

“But if you caught one and took him along with us to 
the ocean?” Nell said, in the conviction that Stas as 
usual would be able to accomplish everything. 


XXIII 


AFTER ten days’ journey the caravan finally crossed the 
depressions in the crests of mountains and entered into a 
different country. It was an immense plain, broken here 
and there by small hills, but was mainly level. The vege- 
tation changed entirely. There were no big trees, rising 
singly or in clumps over the wavy surface of the grass. 
Here and there projected at a considerable distance from 
each other acacias yielding gum, with coral-hued trunks, 
umbrella-like, but with scant foliage and affording but 
little shade. Among the white-ant hillocks shot upwards 
here and there euphorbias, with boughs like the arms of a 
candle-stick. In the sky vultures soared, and lower there 
flew from acacia to acacia birds of the raven species 
with black and white plumage. The grass was yellow 
and, in spike, looked like ripe rye. But, nevertheless, 
that dry jungle obviously supplied food for a great 
number of animals, for several times each day the trav- 
elers met considerable herds of antelopes, hartbeests, and 
particularly zebras. The heat on the open and treeless 
plain became unbearable. The sky was cloudless, the days 
were excessively hot, and the night did not bring any rest. 

The journey became each day more and more burden- 
some. In the villages which the caravan encountered, 
the extremely savage populace received it with fear, but 
principally with reluctance, and if it were not for the 
large number of armed guards as well as the sight 


412 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


of the white faces, the King, and Saba, great danger 
would have threatened the travelers. 

With Kali’s assistance Stas was able to ascertain that 
farther on there were no villages and that the country was 
waterless. This was hard to believe, for the numerous 
herds which they encountered must have drunk some- 
where. Nevertheless, the account of the desert, in which 
there were no rivers nor sloughs, frightened the negroes 
and desertions began. The first example was set by 
M’Kunje and M’Pua. Fortunately their escape was 
detected early, and pursuers on horseback caught them 
not far from the camp; when they were brought back 
Kali, with the aid of the bamboo sticks, impressed upon 
them the impropriety of their conduct. Stas, assembling 
all the guards, delivered a speech to them, which the 
young negro interpreted into the native language. Taking 
advantage of the fact that at the last stopping place lions 
roared all night about the camp, Stas endeavored to con- 
vince his men that whoever ran away would unavoidably 
become their prey, and even if he passed the night on 
acacia boughs the still more terrible “wobo” would find 
him there. He said afterwards that wherever the ante- 
lopes live there must be water, and if in the further course 
of their journey they should chance upon a region entirely 
destitute of water, they could take enough of it with them 
in bags of antelope skin for two or three days’ journey. 
The negroes, hearing his words, repeated every little 
while, one after another: “Oh, mother, how true that is, 
how true!” but the following night five Samburus and 
two Wahimas ran away, and after that every night some- 
body was missing. 

M’Kunje and M’Pua did not, however, try their for- 
tune a second time for the simple reason that Kali at 
sunset ordered them to be bound. 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 413 


Nevertheless, the country became drier and drier, and 
the sun scorched the jungle unmercifully. Even acacias 
could not be seen. Herds of antelopes appeared con- 
tinually but in smaller numbers. The donkey and the 
horses yet found sufficient food, as under the high, dry 
grass was hidden in many places lower grass, greener 
and less dry. But the King, though he was not fastidious, 
grew lean. When they chanced upon an acacia he broke 
it with his head, and nibbled diligently its leaves and 
even the pods of the previous year. The caravan indeed 
came upon water every day, but frequently it was so bad 
that it had to be filtered or else it was unfit even for the 
elephant to drink. Afterwards it happened several times 
that the men, sent in advance, returned under Kali’s com- 
mand, not finding a slough nor a stream hidden in the 
earth’s fissures, and Kali with troubled face would an- 
nounce: “ Madi apana” (no water). 

Stas understood that this last journey would not be 
any easier than the previous ones and began to worry 
about Nell, as changes were taking place in her. Her 
little face, instead of tanning from the sun and wind, 
became each day paler and her eyes lost their usual luster. 
On the dry plain, free from mosquitoes, she was not 
threatened with fever, but it was apparent that the ter- 
rible heat was wasting the little maid’s strength. The 
boy, with compassion and with fear, now gazed at her 
little hands, which became as white as paper, and bitterly 
reproached himself because, having lost so much time 
in the preparation and in drilling the negroes to shoot, 
he had exposed her to a journey in a season of the year 
so parching. 

Amid these fears day after day passed. The sun drank 
up the moisture and the life out of the soil more and more 
greedily and unmercifully. The grass shriveled and dried 


414 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


up to such a degree that it crumbled under the hoofs of 
the antelopes, and herds, rushing by, though not numerous, 
raised clouds of dust. Nevertheless, the travelers chanced 
once more upon a little river, which they recognized by 
a long row of trees growing on its banks. The negroes 
ran in a race towards the trees and, reaching the bank, lay 
flat on it, dipping their heads and drinking so greedily 
that they stopped only when a crocodile seized the hand 
of one of their number. Others rushed to their compan- 
ion’s rescue and in one moment they pulled out of the 
water the loathsome lizard, which, however, did not let 
go of the man’s hand though his jaws were opened with 
spears and knives. The matter was only terminated by 
the King who, placing his foot on him, crushed him as 
easily as if he were a mouldy mushroom. 

When the men finally quenched their thirst, Stas 
ordered the erection in the shallow water of a round 
enclosure of high bamboos with only one entrance from 
the bank, in order that Nell might bathe with perfect 
safety. And at the entrance he stationed the King. 
The bath greatly refreshed the little maid and a rest 
restored her strength somewhat. 

To the great joy of the whole caravan and Nell, “ Bwana 
kubwa” decided to stop two days near this water. At 
this news the men fell into excellent humor and at once 
forgot the toils they had endured. After taking a nap 
and refreshments the negroes began to wander among 
the trees above the river, looking for palms bearing wild 
dates and so-called “Job’s tears,” from which necklaces 
are made. A few of them returned to the camp before 
sunset, carrying some square objects which Stas recog- 
nized as his own kites. 

One of these kites bore the number 7, which was evi- 
dence that it was sent out from Mount Linde, as the 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 415 


children flew from that place a few score. Stas was 
hugely overjoyed at this sight and it gave him renewed 
courage. 

“T did not expect,” he said to Nell, “that kites could 
fly such a distance. I was certain that they would remain 
on the summits of Karamojo and I only let them fly pre- 
pared for any accident. But now I see that the wind 
can carry them where it wants to and I have a hope that 
those which we sent from the mountains surrounding 
Bassa-Narok, and now on the road, will fly as far as the 
ocean.” 

“They surely will,’’ Nell answered. 

“God grant,” the boy acquiesced, thinking of the dan- 
gers and hardships of the further journey. 

The caravan started from the river on the third day, 
taking with them a great supply of water in leather bags. 
Before nightfall they again entered upon a region grilled 
by the sun, in which not even acacias grew, and the 
ground in some places was as bare as a threshing-floor. 
Sometimes they met passion-flowers with trunks imbedded 
in the ground and resembling monstrous pumpkins two 
yards in diameter. In these huge globes there shot out 
lianas as thin as string, which, creeping over the ground, 
covered immense distances, forming a thicket so im- 
penetrable that it would be difficult even for mice to 
penetrate it. But notwithstanding the beautiful color 
of these plants, resembling the European acanthus, there 
were so many thorns in them that neither the King nor 
the horses could find any nourishment in them. Only 
the donkey nibbled them cautiously. 

Sometimes in the course of several English miles they 
did not see anything except coarse, short grass and low 
plants, like immortelles, which crumbled upon being 
touched. After a night’s bivouac, during the whole of 


416 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


the following day a living fire descended from heaven. 
The air quivered as on the Libyan Desert. In the sky 
there was not even a cloudlet. The earth was so flooded 
with light that everything appeared white, and not a 
sound, not even the buzz of insects, interrupted this 
deadly stillness surfeited with an ill-omened luster. 

The men were dripping with sweat. At times they 
deposited their packs of dried meats and shields in one 
pile to find a little shade under them. Stas issued orders 
to save the water, but the negroes are like children, who 
have no thought of the morrow. Finally it was necessary 
to surround with a guard those who carried the supplies of 
water and to apportion the water to each one separately. 
Kali attended to this very conscientiously, but this con- 
sumed a great deal of time and delayed the march, and 
therefore the finding of some kind of watering-place. 
The Samburus complained in addition that the Wahimas 
got more than their share to drink, and the Wahimas that 
the Samburus were favored. These latter began to threaten 
to return, but Stas declared to them that Faru would 
cut off their heads. He himself ordered the men armed 
with Remingtons to go on guard and not let any one leave. 

The next night was passed upon a level plain. They 
did not build a boma, or, as the Suddnese say, a zareba, 
for there was nothing to build one with. The duties of 
sentinel were performed by the King and Saba. This was 
sufficient, but the King, who received only a tenth of the 
water he needed, trumpeted for it until sunrise, and Saba, 
with hanging tongue, turned his eyes towards Stas and 
Nell in mute appeal for even one drop. The little maid 
wanted Stas to give him a mouthful from a rubber flask 
left by Linde, which Stas carried with a string across his 
shoulder, but he was saving this remnant for the little 
one in the dark hour; therefore he declined. 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 417 


On the fourth day towards evening only five bags with 
water remained, or not quite half a cupful for each member 
of the party. As the nights, however, at any rate were 
cooler than the days, and the thirst at such times vexed 
them less than under the burning rays of the sun, and as 
the people had received in the morning a small quantity 
of water, Stas ordered those bags saved for the following 
day. The negroes grumbled at this order, but fear of 
Stas was still great; so they did not dare to rush at this 
last supply, especially as near it stood a guard of two 
men armed with Remingtons, the guard being changed 
every hour. 

The Wahimas and Samburus cheated their thirst by 
pulling out blades of poor grass and chewing its roots. 
Nevertheless, there was almost no moisture in it, as the 
inexorable sun burnt it, even below the earth’s surface.! 

Sleep, though it did not quench their thirst, at least 
permitted them to forget it; so when night followed, the 
men, weary and exhausted with the whole day’s march, 
dropped as though lifeless, wherever they stopped, and 
fell into deep slumber. Stas also fell asleep, but in his 
soul he had too many worries and was disturbed too 
much to sleep peacefully and long. After a few hours he 
awoke and began to meditate on what was to come, and 
where he could secure water for Nell, and for the whole 
caravan, together with the people and the animals. His 
situation was hard and perhaps horrible, but the resource- 
ful boy did not yet yield to despair. He began to recall 
all the incidents, from the time of their abduction from 
Fayim until that moment: the great journey across the 
Sahara, the hurricane in the desert, the attempts to escape, 


1 About the waterless plains in this region see the excellent 
book, entitled ‘‘Kilima-Njaro,” by the Rev. Mr. Le Roy, at 
present Bishop of Gabon. 


418 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


Khartim, the Mahdi, Fashoda, their liberation from 
Gebhr’s hands; afterwards the further journey after Linde’s 
death until reaching Lake Bassa-Narok and that place at 
which they were passing the night. “So much did we 
undergo, so much have we suffered,” he soliloquized, 
“so often did it seem that all was lost and that there was 
no help; nevertheless, God aided me and I always found 
help. Why, it is impossible that, after having passed 
over such roads and gone through so many terrible dangers, 
we should perish upon this the last journey. Now we 
have yet a little water and this region — why, it is not a 
Sahara, for if it were the people would know about it.” 

But hope was mainly sustained in him by this, that 
on the southeast he espied through the field-glass some 
kind of misty outlines as though of mountains. Perhaps 
they were hundreds of English miles away, perhaps more. 
But if they succeeded in reaching them, they would be 
saved, as mountains are seldom waterless. How much 
time that would consume was something he could not 
compute for it all depended upon the height of the moun- 
tains. Lofty peaks in such transparent atmosphere as 
that of Africa can be seen at an immeasurable distance; 
so it was necessary to find water before that time. Other- 
wise destruction threatened them. 

“Tt is necessary,’ Stas repeated to himself. 

The harsh breathing of the elephant, who exhaled 
from his lungs as best he could the burning heat, inter- 
rupted every little while the boy’s meditations. But after 
a certain time it seemed to him that he heard some kind 
of sound, resembling groans, coming from the direction 
in which the water-bags lay covered in the grass for the 
night. As the groans were repeated several times, he 
rose to see what was happening and, walking towards the 
grass plot a few score paces distant from the tent, he 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 419 


perceived two dark bodies lying near each other and two 
Remington barrels glistening in the moonlight. 

“The negroes are always the same,” he thought; “they 
were to watch over the water, more precious now to us 
than anything in the world, and both went to sleep as 
though in their own huts. Ah! Kali’s bamboo will have 
some work to do to-morrow.” 

Under this impression he approached and shook the 
foot of one of the sentinels, but at once drew back in 
horror. 

The apparently sleeping negro lay on his back with 
a knife sticking in his throat up to the handle and beside 
him was the other, likewise cut so terribly that his head 
was almost severed from the trunk. ) 

Two bags with water had disappeared; the other three 
lay in the littered grass, slashed and sunken. 

Stas felt that his hair stood on end. 


XXIV 


In response to his shout Kali was the first to come 
rushing; after him came the two guardsmen who were 
to relieve the previous watch, and a few moments later 
all the Wahimas and Samburus assembled at the scene 
of the crime, shouting and yelling. A commotion, full 
of cries and terror, ensued. The people were concerned 
not so much about the slain and the murderers as about 
the water which soaked into the parched jungle soil. 
Some negroes threw themselves upon the ground and, 
clawing out with their fingers lumps of earth, sucked 
out the remnants of moisture. Others shouted that evil 
spirits had murdered the guards and slashed the bags. 
But Stas and Kali knew what it all meant. M’Kunje 
and M’Pua were missing from those men howling above 
that grass patch. In that which had happened there was 
something more than the murder of two guards and the 
theft of water. The remaining slashed bags were evi- 
dence that it was an act of revenge and at the same time 
a sentence of death for the whole caravan. The priests 
of the wicked Mzimu revenged themselves upon the good 
one. The fetish-men revenged themselves upon the young 
king who exposed their frauds and did not permit them 
to deceive the ignorant Wahimas. Now the wings of 
death stretched over the entire caravan like a hawk over 
a flock of doves. 

Kali recollected too late that, having his mind troubled 
and engrossed with something else, he forgot to have the 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 421 


fetish-men bound, as from the time of their flight he had 
ordered them to be each evening. It was apparent that 
both sentinels, watching the water, through inbred negro 
carelessness, lay down and fell asleep. This facilitated 
the work of the rogues and permitted them to escape 
unpunished. 

Before the confusion subsided somewhat and the people 
recovered from their consternation, considerable time 
elapsed; nevertheless, the assassins could not be far away, 
as the ground under the cut bags was moist and the blood 
which flowed from both of the slain did not yet coagulate. 
Stas issued an order to pursue the runaways not only 
for the purpose of punishing them, but also to recover 
the last two bags of water. Kali, mounting a horse and 
taking with him about thirteen guardsmen, started in 
pursuit. Stas at first wanted to take part in it, but it 
eccurred to him that he could not leave Nell alone among 
the excited and enraged negroes; so he remained. He 
only directed Kali to take Saba along with him. 

He himself remained, for he feared a downright mutiny, 
particularly among the Samburus. But in this he was 
mistaken. The negroes as a rule break out easily, and 
sometimes for trivial causes, but when crushed by a 
great calamity and particularly when the inexorable 
hand of death weighs upon them, they submit passively; 
not only those whom Islam teaches that a struggle with 
destiny is vain, but all others. Then neither terror nor 
the moments of torture can arouse them from their tor- 
por. It happened thus at this time. The Wahimas, 
as well as the Samburus, when the first excitement passed 
away and the idea that they must die definitely found 
lodgment in their minds, lay down quietly on the ground 
waiting for death; in view of which not a mutiny was to 
be feared, but rather that on the morrow they would not 


422 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


want to rise and start upon their further journey. Stas, 
when he observed this, was seized by a great pity for them. 

Kali returned before daybreak and at once placed 
before Stas two bags torn to pieces, in which there was 
not a drop of water. 

“Great Master,” he said, “madi apana!”’ 

Stas rubbed his perspiring forehead with his hand; 
after which he said: 

“And M’Kunje and M’Pua?”’ 

“M’Kunje and M’Pua are dead,” Kali replied. 

“Did you order them to be killed?” 

“A lion or ‘wobo’ killed them.” 

And he began to relate what happened. The bodies 
of the two murderers were found quite far from the camp 
at the place where they met death. Both lay close to 
each other, both had skulls crushed from behind, lacerated 
shoulders, and gnawed spines. Kali assumed that when 
the “wobo”’ or lion appeared before them in the moon- 
light they fell on their faces before it and began to entreat 
it that it should spare their lives. But the terrible beast 
killed both, and afterwards, having appeased its hunger, 
scented water and tore the bags to pieces. 

“God punished them,” Stas said, “and the Wahimas 
should be convinced that the wicked Mzimu is incapable 
of rescuing any one.” 

And Kali added: 

“God punished them, but we have no water.”’ 

“Far ahead of us in the east I saw mountains. There 
must be water there.”’ 

“Kali sees them also, but it is many, many days to 
them.” 

A moment of silence followed. 

“Master,” spoke out Kali, “let the ‘Good Mzimu’— let 
the ‘bibi’ beg the Great Spirit for rain or for a river.” 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 423 


Stas left him, making no reply. But before the tent he 
saw Nell’s little figure; the shouts and yells had awakened 
her some time before. 

“What has happened, Stas?” she asked, running up 
to him. 

And he placed his hand on her little head and solemnly 
said: 

“Nell, pray to God for water; otherwise we all shall 
perish.” 

So the little maiden upraised her pale little face and, 
fastening her eyes on the moon’s silvery shield, began 
to implore for succor Him who in heaven causes the stars 
to revolve and on earth tempers the wind for the shorn 
lamb. 


After a sleepless, noisy, and anxious night the sun 
rolled upon the horizon suddenly, as it always does under 
the equator, and a bright day followed. On the grass 
there was not a drop of dew; on the sky not a cloudlet. 
Stas ordered the guards to assemble the men and delivered 
a short speech to them. He declared to them that it was 
impossible to return to the river now, for they of course 
well knew that they were separated from it by five days’ 
and nights’ journey. But on the other hand no one knew 
whether there was not water in the opposite direction. 
Perhaps even not far away they would find some stream, 
some rivulet or slough. Trees, indeed, could not be seen, 
but it often happens upon open plains where the strong 
gale carries away the seeds, trees do not grow even at the 
water-side. Yesterday they saw some big antelopes and 
a few ostriches running towards the east, which was a 
sign that yonder there must be some watering place, and 
in view of this whoever is not a fool and whoever has in 
his bosom a heart, not of a hare but of a lion or buffalo, 


424 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


will prefer to move forward, though in thirst and pain, 
rather than to lie down and wait there for vultures or 
hyenas. 

And saying this, he pointed with his hand at the vul- 
tures, a few of which coursed already in an ill-omened 
circle above the caravan. After these words the Wahimas, 
whom Stas commanded to rise, stood up almost as one 
man, for, accustomed to the dreadful power of kings, 
they did not dare to resist. But many of the Samburus, 
in view of the fact that their king Faru remained at the 
lake, did not want to rise, and these said among them- 
selves: “Why should we go to meet death when she 
herself will come to us?” In this manner the caravan 
proceeded, reduced almost one-half, and it started from 
the outset in torture. For twenty-four hours the people 
had not had a drop of water or any other fluid in their 
mouths. Even in a cooler climate this, at labor, would 
have been an unendurable suffering; and how much more 
so in this blazing African furnace in which even those 
who drink copiously perspire the water so quickly that 
almost at the same moment they can wipe it off their 
skin with their hands. It was also to be foreseen that 
many of the men would drop on the way from exhaustion 
and sunstroke. Stas protected Nell as best he could 
from the sun and did not permit her to lean for even a 
moment out of the palanquin, whose little roof he covered 
with a piece of white percale in order to make it double. 
With the rest of the water, which he still had in the 
rubber bottle, he prepared a strong tea for her and handed 
it to her when cooled off, without any sugar, for sweets in- 
crease thirst. The little girl urged him with tears to drink 
also; so he placed to his lips the bottle in which there 
remained scarcely a few thimblefuls of water, and, moving 
his throat, pretended that he drank it. At the moment 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 425 


when he felt the moisture on his lips it seemed to him that 
his breast and stomach were aflame and that if he did 
not quench that flame he would drop dead. Before his 
eyes red spots began to flit, and in his jaws he felt a ter- 
rible pain, as if some one stuck a thousand pins in them. 
His hands shook so that he almost spilt these last drops. 
Nevertheless, he caught only two or three in his mouth 
with his tongue; the rest he saved for Nell. 

A day of torture and toil again passed, after which, 
fortunately, a cooler night came. But the following 
morning the intense heat became terrible. There was 
not a breath of air. The sun, like an evil spirit, ravaged 
with living flame the parched earth. The borders of the 
horizon whitened. As far as the eyes reached not even 
euphorbias could be seen. Nothing —only a burnt, 
desolate plain, covered with tufts of blackened grass and 
heather. From time to time there resounded in the im- 
measurable distance light thunder, but this in fair skies 
proclaims not storms but a drought. 

About noon, when the heat became the greatest, it was 
necessary to halt. The caravan broke ranks in gloomy 
silence. It appeared that one horse fell and about 
thirteen of the guards remained on the road. During the 
rest nobody thought of eating. The people had sunken 
eyes and cracked lips and on them dried clots of blood. 
Nell panted like a bird, so Stas surrendered to her the 
rubber bottle, and exclaiming: “I drank! I drank!” 
he ran to the other side of the camp, for he feared that 
if he remained he would snatch that water from her or 
would demand that she should share it with him. This 
perhaps was his most heroic act during the course of the 
journey. He himself, however, began to suffer horribly. 
Before his eyes there flew continually the red patches. 
He felt a tightening of his jaws so strongly that he opened 


426 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


and closed them with difficulty. His throat was dry, 
burning; there was no saliva in his mouth; the tongue 
was as though wooden. And of course this was but the 
beginning of the torture for him and for the caravan. 

The thunder announcing the drought resounded in- 
cessantly on the horizon’s border. About three o’clock, 
when the sun passed to the western side of the heavens, 
Stas ordered the caravan to rise and started at its head 
towards the east. But now hardly seventy men followed 
him, and every little while some one of them lay down 
beside his pack to rise nevermore. The heat decreased 
a few degrees but was still terrible. The still air was 
permeated as though with the gas of burning charcoal. 
The people had nothing to breathe and the animals began 
to suffer no less. In an hour after the start again one of 
the horses fell. Saba panted and his flanks heaved; from 
his blackened tongue not a drop of froth fell. The King, 
accustomed to the dry African jungle, apparently suffered 
the least, but he began to be vicious. His little eyes glit- 
tered with a kind of strange light. To Stas, and particu- 
larly to Nell, who from time to time talked to him, he 
answered still with a gurgle, but when Kali carelessly 
came near him he grunted menacingly and waved his 
trunk so that he would have killed the boy if he had not 
jumped aside in time. 

Kali’s eyes were bloodshot, the veins in his neck were 
inflated, and his lips cracked the same as the other negroes. 
About five o’clock he approached Stas and, in a hollow 
voice which with difficulty issued out of his throat, said: 

“Great master, Kali can go no further. Let the night 
come here.” 

Stas overcame the pain in his jaws and answered with 
an effort: 


“Very well. We will stop. The night will bring relief.” 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 427 


“Tt will bring death,” the young negro whispered. 

The men threw the loads off their heads, but as the fever 
in their thickened blood already reached the highest de- 
gree, on this occasion they did not immediately lie 
down on the ground. Their hearts and the arteries in 
their temples, hands, and limbs pulsated as if in a moment 
they would burst. The skin of their bodies, drying up 
and shrinking, began to itch; in their bones they were 
sensible of an excessive disquiet and in their entrails 
and throats a fire. Some walked uneasily among the 
packets; others could be seen farther ‘away in ruddy 
rays of the setting sun as they strolled one after another 
among the dried tufts as though seeking something, and 
this continued until their strength was entirely exhausted. 
Then they fell in turn on the ground and lay in convul- 
sions. Kali sat, squatting near Stas and Nell, catching 
the air with open mouth, and began to repeat entreatingly 
between one breath and the other: 

“Bwana kubwa, water.” 

Stas gazed at him with a glassy stare and remained silent. 

“Bwana kubwa, water!” 

And after a while: 

“Kali is dying.” 

At this, Mea, who for an unknown reason endured thirst 
the easiest and suffered the least of all, approached, sat 
close to him, and, embracing his neck with her arms, said 
in her quiet, melodious voice. 

“Mea wants to die together with Kali.” 

A long silence followed. 


In the meantime the sun set and night covered the 
region. The sky became dark-blue. On its southern 
side the Cross glistened. Above the plain a myriad of 
stars twinkled. The moon came out from under the 


428 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


earth and began to satiate the darkness with light, and 
on the west with the waning and pale twilight extended 
the zodiacal luminosity. The air was transformed into 
a great luminous gulf. The ever-increasing luster sub- 
merged the region. The palanquin, which remained for- 
gotten on the King’s back, and the tents glistened, just 
as whitewashed houses glisten in a bright night. The 
world sank into silence and sleep encompassed the 
earth. 

And in the presence of this stillness and this quiet of 
nature the people howled from pain and waited for death. 
On the silvery background of the darkness the gigantic 
black form of the elephant was strongly outlined. The 
moon’s beams illuminated besides the tents, Stas’ and 
Nell’s dresses and, amid tufts of heather, the dark, shriveled 
bodies of the negroes and, scattered here and there, piles 
of packages. Before the children sat, propped on his 
fore legs, Saba, and, raising his head towards the moon’s 
shield, he howled mournfully. 

In Stas’ soul oscillated only the remnants of thought, 
changed into a gloomy and despairing feeling that this 
time there was no help and that all those prodigious toils 
and efforts, those sufferings, those acts of will and cour- 
age, which he had performed during the terrible journey 
— from Medinet to Khartiim, from Khartim to Fashoda, 
and from Fashoda to the unknown lake — would avail 
naught, and that an inexorable end of the struggle and 
of life was approaching. And this appeared to him all 
the more horrible because this end came during the time 
of the final journey, at the termination of which lay the 
ocean. Ah! He would not now conduct little Nell to 
the coast; he would not convey her by a steamer to Port 
Said, would not surrender her to Mr. Rawlinson; he 
himself would not fall into his father’s arms and would 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 429 


not hear from his lips that he had acted like a brave boy 
and like a true Pole! The end, the end! In a few days 
the sun would shine only upon the lifeless bodies and 
afterwards would dry them up into a semblance of those 
mummies which slumber in an eternal sleep in the museums 
in Egypt. 

From torture and fever his mind began to get confused. 
Ante-mortem visions and delusions of hearing crowded 
upon him. He heard distinctly the voices of the Sudanese 
and Bedouins yelling “Yalla! Yalla!” at the speeding 
camels. He saw Idris and Gebhr. The Mahdi smiled at 
him with his thick lips, asking: “Do you want to drink 
at the spring of truth?”’ — Afterwards the lion gazed at 
him from the rock; later Linde gave him a gallipot of 
quinine and said: “Hurry, hurry, for the little one will 
die.”’ And in the end he beheld only the pale, very dear 
little face and two little hands stretched out towards 
him. 

Suddenly he trembled and consciousness returned to 
him for a moment, for hard by murmured the quiet 
whisper of Nell, resembling a moan: 

“Stas — water!” 

And she, like Kali previously, looked to him only for help. 

But as twelve hours before he had given her the last 
drop, he now started up suddenly, and exclaimed in a 
voice in which vibrated an outburst of pain, despair, and 
affliction: 

“Oh, Nell, I only pretended that I was drinking! For 
three days I have had nothing in my mouth!” 

And clasping his head with both hands he ran away in 
order not to look at her sufferings. He rushed blindly 
among tufts of grass and heather until he fell upon one 
of the tufts. He was unarmed. A leopard, lion, or even 
a big hyena would find in him an easy prey. But only 


430 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


Saba came running to him. Having smelt at him on all 
sides, he again began to howl, as if summoning aid 
for him. 

Nobody, however, hurried with aid. Only from above, 
the moon, quiet and indifferent, looked on him. Fora long 
time the boy lay like dead. He was revived only by 
a cooler breath of wind, which unexpectedly blew from 
the east. Stas sat up and after a while attempted to 
rise to return to Nell. 

The cooler wind blew a second time. Saba ceased 
howling and, turning towards the east, began to dilate his 
nostrils. Suddenly he barked once or twice a short, 
broken bass and dashed ahead. For some time he could 
not be heard, but soon his barking again resounded. Stas 
rose and, staggering on his numb legs, began to look after 
him. Long journeys, long stays in the jungle, the necessity 
of holding all his senses in continual restraint, and continual 
dangers had taught the boy to pay careful heed to every- 
thing which was taking place about him. So, notwith- 
standing the tortures he felt at that moment, notwith- 
standing his half-conscious mind, through instinct and 
habit he watched the behavior of the dog. And Saba, 
after the lapse of a certain time, again appeared near him, 
but was somewhat strangely agitated and uneasy. A few 
times he raised his eyes at Stas, ran around, again rushed 
ahead, scenting and barking in the heather; again he 
came back and finally, seizing the boy’s clothes, began to 
pull him in a direction opposite to the camp. 

Stas completely recovered his senses. 

“What is this?’’ he thought. “Either the dog’s mind, 
from thirst, is disordered or he has scented water. But 
no! If water was near he would have run to it to drink 
and would have wet jaws. If it was far away, he would 
not have scented it— water has no smell. He is not 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 431 


pulling me to antelopes, for he did not want to eat 
during the evening. Nor to beasts of prey. Well, what 
sit) 

And suddenly his heart began to beat in his bosom yet 
more strongly. 

“Perhaps the wind brought him the odor of men? — 
Perhaps — in the distance there is some negro village? — 
Perhaps one of the kites has flown as far — Oh, merciful 
Christ! Oh, Christ! — ” 

And under the influence of a gleam of hope he regained 
his strength and began to run towards the camp, not- 
withstanding the obstinacy of the dog, who incessantly 
barred his way. In the camp Nell’s form loomed white 
before him and her weak voice reached him: after a while 
he stumbled over Kali lying on the ground, but he paid 
no heed to anything. Reaching the pack in which the sky- 
rockets were, he tore it open and drew out one of them. 
With trembling hands he tied it to a bamboo stick, planted 
it in a crack in the ground, struck a match and lit the 
string of the tube hanging at the bottom. 

After a while a red snake flew upwards with a sputter 
and a sizzle. Stas seized a bamboo pole with both hands 
in order not to fall and fixed his eyes on the distance. His 
pulse and his temples beat like sledge hammers; his lips 
moved in fervent prayer. His last breath, and in it his 
whole soul, he sent to God. 

One minute passed, another, a third, and a fourth. 
Nothing! Nothing! The boy’s hand dropped, his head 
bowed to the ground, and immense grief flooded his tor- 
tured breast. 

“Tn vain! In vain!” he whispered. “I will go and sit 
beside Nell and we will die together.” 

At this moment far, far away on the silvery background 
of the moonlit night, a fiery ribbon suddenly soared up- 


432 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


ward and scattered into golden stars, which fell slowly, 
like great tears, upon the earth. 

“Succor!’’ Stas shouted. 

And immediately these people, who were half-dead 
a short time before, dashed pell-mell in a race across 
tufts of shrubs and grass. After the first sky-rocket, a 
second and third appeared. After that the breeze brought 
a report as though of tapping, in which it was easy to 
divine distant shots. Stas ordered all the Remingtons 
to be fired, and from that time the colloquy of rifles was 
not interrupted at all and became more and more distinct. 
The boy, sitting on a horse, which also as though by a 
miracle recovered its strength, and keeping Nell before 
him, dashed across the plain towards the saving sounds. 
Beside him rushed Saba and after him trumpeted the 
gigantic King. The two camps were separated by a space 
of a few miles, but as from both sides they drew to each 
other simultaneously, the whole trip did not last long. 
Soon the rifle shots could not only be heard but seen. 
Yet one last sky-rocket flew out in the air not farther 
than a few hundred paces. After that numerous lights 
glistened. The slight elevation of the ground hid them 
for a while, but when Stas passed it he found himself 
almost in front of a row of negroes holding in their hands 
burning torches. 

At the head of the row were two Europeans, in English 
helmets and with rifles in their hands. 

With one glance of the eye Stas recognized them as 
being Captain Glenn and Doctor Clary. 


XXV 


THE object of the Captain Glenn and Doctor Clary ex- 
pedition was not at all to find Stas and Nell. It was a 
large and abundantly equipped government expedi- 
tion despatched to explore the eastern and northern 
slopes of the gigantic mountain Kilima-Njaro, as well 
as the little-known vast regions lying north of that moun- 
tain. The captain as well as the doctor knew indeed 
about the abduction of the children from Medinet el- 
Faytim, as intelligence of it was published in the English 
and Arabian papers, but they thought that both were 
dead or were groaning in slavery under the Mahdi, from 
whom thus far not a European had been rescued. Clary, 
whose sister married Rawlinson in Bombay and who was 
very much charmed by little Nell during the trip to Cairo, 
felt keenly her loss. But with Glenn, he mourned also 
for the brave boy. Several times they sent despatches 
from Mombasa to Mr. Rawlinson asking whether the 
children were found, and not until the last unfavorable 
reply, which came a considerable time before the starting 
of the caravan, did they finally lose all hope. 

And it never even occurred to them that the children im- 
prisoned in distant Khartfim could appear in that locality. 
Often, however, they conversed about them in the even- 
ing after finishing their daily labors, for the doctor could 
by no means forget the beautiful little girl. 

In the meantime the expedition advanced farther and 
farther. After a long stay on the eastern slope of Kilima- 


434 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


Njaro, after exploring the upper courses of the Sabak 
and Tany rivers, as well as Kenia Mountain, the captain 
and doctor turned in a northerly direction, and after cross- 
ing the marshy Guasso-Nijiro they entered upon a vast 
plain, uninhabited and frequented by countless herds of 
antelopes. After three months of travel the men were 
entitled to a long rest, so Captain Glenn, discovering a 
small lake of wholesome brown water, ordered tents to be 
pitched near it and announced a ten days’ stop. 

During the stop the white men were occupied with 
hunting and arranging their geographical and scientific 
notes, and the negroes devoted themselves toidleness, which 
is always so sweet to them. Now it happened one day 
that Doctor Clary, shortly after he arose, when approach- 
ing the shore, observed between ten and twenty natives of 
Zanzibar, belonging to the caravan, gazing with upturned 
faces at the top of a high tree and repeating in a circle: 

“Ndege? Akuna ndege? Ndege?” (A bird? Not a 
bird? A bird?) 

The doctor was short-sighted, so he sent to his tent 
for a field-glass; afterwards he looked through it at the 
object pointed out by the negroes and great astonishment 
was reflected upon his countenance. 

“ Ask the captain to come here,” he said. 

Before the negroes reached him the captain appeared in 
front of the tent, for he was starting on an antelope-hunt. 

“Look, Glenn,” the doctor said, pointing with his hand 
upwards. 

The captain, in turn, turned his face upwards, shaded 
his eyes with his hand, and was astonished no less than 
the doctor. 

“A kite,” he exclaimed. 

“Yes, but the negroes do not fly kites. So where did 
it come from?” 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 435 


“Perhaps some kind of white settlement is located in 
the vicinity or some kind of mission.” 

“For three days the wind has blown from the west, 
or from a region unknown and in all probability as un- 
inhabited as this jungle. You know that here there are 
no settlements or missions.” 

“This is really curious.” 

“We had better get that kite.” 

“Tt is necessary. Perhaps we may ascertain where it 
came from.” 

The captain gave the order. The tree was a few tens 
of yards high, but the negroes climbed at once to the top, 
removed carefully the imprisoned kite, and handed it to 
the doctor who, glancing at it, said: 

“There is some kind of inscription on it. We ’Il see.” 
And blinking with his eyes he began to read. 

Suddenly his face changed, his hands trembled. 

“Glenn,” he said, “take this, read it, and assure me 
that I did not get a sunstroke and that I am in my sound 
mind.” 

The captain took the bamboo frame to which a sheet 
was fastened and read as follows: 


“Nelly Rawlinson and Stanislas Tarkowski, sent from Khar- 
tim to Fashoda and conducted from Fashoda east from the 
Nile, escaped from the dervishes. After long months’ travel 
they arrived at a lake lying south of Abyssinia. They are going 
to the ocean. They beg for speedy help.” 


At the side of the sheet they found the following 
addition written in smaller letters: 


“This kite, the 54th in order, was flown from the mountains 
surrounding a lake unknown to geography. "Whoever finds it 
should notify the Directory of the Canal at Port Said or Captain 
Glenn in Mombasa. 

Stanislas Tarkowski.” 


436 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


When the captain’s voice died away, the two friends 
gazed at each other in silence. 

“What is this?”’ Doctor Clary finally asked. 

“T do not believe my own eyes!”’ the captain answered. 

“This, of course, is no illusion.” 

(ft No: 

“Tt is plainly written, ‘Nelly Rawlinson and Stanislas 
Tarkowski.’” 

“Most plainly.” 

“And they may be somewhere in this region.” 

“God rescued them, so it is probable.” 

“Thank Him for that,” exclaimed the doctor fervently. 
“But where shall we seek them?” 

“Ts there no more on the kite?”’ 

“There are a few other words but in the place torn by 
the bough. It is hard to read them.” 

Both leaned their heads over the sheet and only after 
a long time were they able to decipher: 


‘The rainy season passed long ago.”’ 


“What does that mean?” 

“That the boy lost the computation of time.” 

“And in this manner he endeavored to indicate the 
date, therefore this kite may have been sent up not 
very long ago.” 

“Tf that is so, they may not be very far from here.” 

The feverish, broken conversation lasted for a while, 
after which both began to scrutinize the document and 
discuss every word inscribed upon it. The thing ap- 
peared, however, so improbable that if it were not for 
the fact that this occurred in a region in which there were 
no Europeans at all — about three hundred and seventy- 
five miles from the nearest coast — the doctor and the cap- 
tain would have assumed that it was an ill-timed joke, 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 437 


which had been perpetrated by some European children 
who had read the newspapers describing the abduction, or 
by wards of missions. But it was difficult not to believe 
their eyes; they had the kite in hand and the little rubbed 
inscriptions were plainly in black before them. 

Nevertheless, there were many things which they could 
not comprehend. Where did the children get the paper 
for the kite? If it had been furnished to them by a car- 
avan, then they would have joined it and would not 
have appealed for help. For what reason did the boy 
not attempt to fly with his little companion to Abyssinia? 
Why did the dervishes send them east of the Nile into 
an unknown region? In what manner did they succeed 
in escaping from the hands of the guards? Where did 
they hide? By what miracle through long months of 
journey did they not die from starvation, or become 
the prey of wild animals? Why were they not killed 
by savages? To all these questions there was no reply. 

“T do not understand it, I do not understand it,” re- 
peated Doctor Clary; “this is perhaps a miracle of God.” 

“Undoubtedly,” the captain answered. 

After which he added: 

“But that boy! For that, of course, was his work.”’ 

“And he did not abandon the little one. May the 
blessings of God flow upon his head!” 

“Stanley —even Stanley would not have survived 
three days under these circumstances.”’ 

“And nevertheless they live.” 

“But appeal for help. The stop is ended. We start 
at once.” 

And so it happened. On the road both friends scrutin- 
ized the document continually in the conviction that 
they might obtain from it an inkling of the direction in 
which it was necessary for them to go with help. But 


438 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


directions were lacking. The captain led the caravan in 
a zigzag way, hoping that he might chance upon some 
trace, some extinct fire, or a tree with a sign carved 
on the bark. In this manner they advanced for a few 
days. Unfortunately they entered afterwards upon a 
plain, entirely treeless, covered with high heather and 
tufts of dried grass. Uneasiness began to possess both 
friends. How easy it was to miss each other in that im- 
measurable expanse, even with a whole caravan; and 
how much more so two children, who, as they imagined, 
crept like two little worms somewhere amid heather 
higher than themselves! Another day passed. Neither 
fires at night nor tin boxes, with notes in them, fastened 
on the tufts helped them any. The captain and the 
doctor at times began to lose hope of ever succeeding 
in finding the children and, particularly, of finding them 
alive. 

They sought for them zealously, however, during the 
following days. The patrols, which Glenn sent right 
and left, finally reported to him that farther on began a 
desert entirely waterless; so when they accidentally 
discovered cool water in a cleft it was necessary to halt 
in order to replenish their supplies for the further journey. 

The cleft was rather a fissure, a score of yards deep 
and comparatively narrow. At its bottom flowed a 
warm spring, seething like boiling water, for it was satu- 
rated with carbonic acid. Nevertheless, it appeared that 
the water, after cooling, was good and wholesome. The 
spring was so abundant that the three hundred men of 
the caravan could not exhaust it. On the contrary the 
more water they drew from it the more it flowed, and 
filled the fissure higher. 

“Perhaps sometime,” Doctor Clary said, “this place 
will be a resort for the health-seeker, but at present this 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 439 


water is inaccessible for animals because the walls of the 
fissure are too steep.” 

“Could the children chance upon a similar spring? ” 

“T do not know. It may be that more of them can 
be found in this locality. But if not, then without water 
they must perish.” 

Night fell. Fires were lit. Nevertheless, a boma was 
not erected, for there was nothing to build one with. After 
the evening refreshments, the doctor and the captain sat 
upon folding chairs, and lighting their pipes, began to 
converse of that which lay most upon their hearts. 

“Not a trace,” declared Clary. 

“Tt had occurred to me,” Glenn replied, “to send ten 
of our men to the ocean coast with a despatch that there 
is news of the children. But I am glad that I did not do 
that, as the men would perish on the way, and, even if they 
reached the coast, why should we awaken vain hopes?” 

“« And revive the pain —”’ 

The doctor removed the white helmet from his head 
and wiped his perspiring forehead. 

“Listen,” he said; “if we should return to that lake 
and order the men to hew down trees and at night light a 
gigantic bonfire, perhaps the children might descry it.” 

“Tf they were near we would find them anyway, and 
if they are far off the rolling ground would hide the fire. 
Here the plain is seemingly level, but in reality is in 
knobs, wavy as the ocean. Besides, by retreating we 
would definitely lose the possibility of finding even traces 
of them.” 

“Speak candidly. You have no hope?” . 

“My dear sir, we are grown-up, strong, and resourceful 
men, and think of what would become of us if we two 
were here alone, even with weapons — but without sup- 
plies and men —” 


440 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


“Yes! alas — yes! I picture to myself the two children 
going in such a night across the desert.” 

“Hunger, thirst, and wild animals.” 

“And nevertheless the boy writes that under such con- 
ditions they proceeded for long months.” 

“There is also something in that which passes my 
comprehension.” 

For a long time could be heard amid the stillness only 
the sizzling of the tobacco in the pipes. The doctor gazed 
into the depth of the night, after which he said in a sub- 
dued voice: 

“Tt is already late, but sleep has deserted me. And to 
think that they, if alive, are straying somewhere in 
the moonlight amid these dry heathers — alone — such 
children! Do you remember, Glenn, the little one’s 
angelic countenance?” 

“T remember it, and cannot forget.” 

“Ah, I would allow my hand to be cut off, if —” 

And he did not finish, for Glenn started up suddenly 
as if scalded. 

“A sky-rocket in the distance!” he shouted. 

“A sky-rocket!’’ repeated the doctor. 

“Some kind of caravan is ahead of us.” 

“Which might have found the children.” 

“Perhaps. Let us hurry to them.” 

“Forward!” 

The captain’s orders resounded in one moment through- 
out the camp. The Zanzibarians sprang up suddenly on 
their feet. Soon torches were lit. Glenn in reply to the 
distant signal directed that a few rockets, one after the 
other, be sent up; and afterwards that the salvo of rifle 
shots be continued. Before a quarter of an hour elapsed 
the whole camp was on the way. 

From the distance shots replied. There was no doubt 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 441 


that this was some kind of European caravan, appealing, 
from unknown reasons, for help. 

The captain and the doctor raced forward, swept alter- 
nately by fear and hope. Would they find the children 
or would they not? The doctor said in his soul that, if 
not, they in the further journey could seek only for their 
remains amid those terrible heather-bushes. 

After a half-hour one of those knobs, of which they had 
spoken before, obstructed the further view of the friends. 
But they were already so near that they heard distinctly 
the clatter of a horse’s hoofs. In a few minutes, and 
on the top of the elevation, appeared a rider, holding 
before him a white object. 

“Torches up,” commanded Glenn. 

In the same moment the rider brought his horse into 
the circle of light. 

“Water! Water!” 

“The children!” Doctor Clary cried. 

“Water!” Stas repeated. 

And he almost hurled Nell into the captain’s arms and 
leaped out of the saddle. é 

But immediately he staggered, and fell like a corpse 
upon the ground. 


CONCLUSION 


Joy in the camp of Captain Glenn and Doctor Clary was 
boundless, but the curiosity of both Englishmen was sub- 
jected to a severe test. For if previously they could not 
comprehend how the children by themselves could cross 
those vast wilds and deserts separating that region from 
the Nile and Fashoda, then at present they could not at 
all understand in what manner “the little Pole,” as they 
called Stas, not only accomplished that but appeared 
before them as the leader of a caravan, armed with Euro- 
pean weapons — with an elephant bearing a palanquin, 
with horses, tents, and a considerable supply of provisions. 
At the sight of this, the captain spread out his arms and 
said every little while: “Clary, I have seen a great deal 
but I have not seen such a boy,’ —and the honest 
doctor repeated with no less astonishment: “And he 
rescued the little one from slavery and saved her!” After 
which he hastened to the tents to see how the children 
were and whether they slept well. 

And the children, having appeased their thirst and 
hunger and changed their clothes, slept as though slain, 
during the whole of the following day; the people in their 
caravan did the same. Captain Glenn tried to question 
Kali about Stas’ deeds and adventures during the journey, 
but the young negro, opening one eye, only answered: 
“The great master can do everything,” — and again fell 
asleep. It positively became necessary to postpone ques- 
tions and explanations for a few days. 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 443 


In the meantime the two friends conferred over the 
return journey to Mombasa. They had, as it was, pene- 
trated farther and explored more territory than they were 
commissioned to; they decided, therefore, to return with- 
out delay. The captain indeed was lured very much by 
that lake unknown to geography, but a regard for the 
health of the children and a desire to return them as 
quickly as possible to their afflicted fathers prevailed. 
The doctor insisted, however, that it would be necessary 
to rest on the cool heights of Kenia Mountain or Mount 
Kilima-Njaro. From there they also decided to send news 
to the parents and summon them to come to Mombasa. 

The return journey began, after due rest and baths in 
the warm springs, on the third day. It was at the same 
time a day of parting from Kali. Stas persuaded the 
little one that to take him farther with them — to the 
ocean or to Egypt — would be selfishness on their part. 
He said to her that in Egypt, and even in England, Kali 
would be nothing more than a servant, while when he 
assumed the government of his nation, he, as king, could 
spread and establish Christianity, soften the savage 
customs of the Wahimas, and make of them not only a 
civilized but a good people. The same thing he repeated 
in substance to Kali. 

At the leave-taking, however, a multitude of tears 
were shed of which even Stas was not ashamed, for he 
and Nell had passed with Kali through many evil and 
good moments and not only had learned to appreciate 
his honest heart, but had conceived a sincere affection 
for him. The young negro lay long at the feet of his 
“Bwana kubwa” and the ‘Good Mzimu.” Twice he re- 
turned to look at them for a while, but finally the moment 
of separation came and the two caravans started in oppo- 
site directions. 


444 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


It was only during the journey that the narrative of the 
adventures of the two little travelers began. Stas, at 
one time prone to be a trifle boastful, now did not brag 
at all. He simply had performed too many great deeds, 
he had undergone too much, and was too developed not 
to understand that words should not be greater than 
acts. There was, after all, enough of deeds, though 
related in the most modest manner. Each day during 
the scorching “white hours” and at evening during the 
stops there glided before the eyes of Captain Glenn and 
Doctor Clary pictures, as it were, of those occurrences 
and incidents through which the children had passed. 
So they saw the kidnapping from Medinet-el-Fayfim and 
the awful journey on camel-back across the desert — and 
Khartim and Omdurmén, resembling hell on earth, and 
the ill-boding Mahdi. When Stas related his reply to 
the Mahdi, when the latter tried to induce him to change 
his faith, both friends rose and each of them warmly shook 
Stas’ right hand, after which the captain said: 

“The Mahdi is not living!” 

“The Mahdi is not living?” Stas repeated with as- 
tonishment. 

“Yes,” spoke out the doctor. “He choked himself with 
his own fat, or, in other words, he died of heart trouble, 
and the succession of his government has been assumed by 
Abdullahi.” 

A long silence ensued. 

“Ha!” said Stas. “He did not expect when he de- 
spatched us for our destruction to Fashoda that death 
would first overtake him.” 

And later he added: 

“But Abdullahi is still more cruel than the Mahdi.” 

“For that reason mutinies and massacres have already 
begun,” the captain replied, “and the whole edifice 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 445 


which the Mahdi reared will sooner or later tumble 
down.” 

“And after that who will succeed?” 

“England,” the captain answered.! 

In the further course of the journey, Stas told about 
his journey to Fashoda, about the death of old Dinah, 
of their start from Fashoda to uninhabited regions, and 
their search for Smain in them. When he reached that 
part where he killed the lion and afterwards Gebhr, » 
Chamis, and the two Bedouins, the captain interrupted 
him with only two words: “All right!” after which he 
again squeezed his right hand, and with Clary listened 
with increasing interest about the taming of the King, 
about settling in Cracow, about Nell’s fever, of finding 
Linde, and the kites which the children sent up from 
Karamojo Mountains. The doctor who, with each day, 
became more and more deeply attached to little Nell, was 
impressed so much by everything which threatened her 
most, that from time to time he had to strengthen 
himself with a few swallows of brandy, and when Stas 
began to narrate how she almost became the prey of the 
dreadful “wobo” or “abasanto,” he caught the little 
maid in his arms as if in fear that some new beast of prey 
was threatening her life. 

And what he and the captain thought of Stas was best 
evidenced by two despatches, which within two weeks 
after their arrival at the foot-hills of Kilima-Njaro they 
expressly sent to the captain’s deputy in Mombasa with 
instructions that the latter should transmit them to the 
fathers. The first one, edited carefully, for fear that it 


1 The reign of Abdullahi continued for ten years. Thede- 
cisive blow to the dervish power was delivered by Lord Kitch- 
ener, who almost totally annihilated them in a great bloody 
battle and afterwards ordered the Mahdi’s tomb to be razed. 


446 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


should create too astounding a sensation, and forwarded 
to Port Said, contained the following words: 

“Thanks to boy, favorable news about children. Come 
to Mombasa.” | 

The second, more explicit, addressed to Aden, was of 
this purport: 

“Children are with us. Well. Boy a hero.” 


On the cool heights at the foot of Kilima-Njaro they 
stopped fifteen days, as Doctor Clary insisted that this 
was imperative for Nell’s health, and even for Stas’. 
The children with their whole souls admired this heaven- 
kissing mountain, which possesses all the climates of the 
world. Its two peaks, Kibo and Kima-Wenze, during 
daytime were most frequently hidden in thick fogs. But 
when in fair nights the fogs suddenly dispersed and from 
the twilight the eternal snows on Kima-Wenze blushed 
with a rosy luster at a time when the whole world was 
plunged in darkness, the mountain appeared like a bright 
altar of God, and the hands of both children at this sight 
involuntarily were folded in prayer. 


For Stas the days of worry, uneasiness and exertion had 
passed. They had yet before them a month of travel to 
Mombasa and the road led through the charming but 
unhealthy forest of Taveta; but how much easier it 
was to travel now, with a numerous caravan well pro- 
vided with everything and over familiar trails, than 
formerly to stray in the wilderness with only Kali and 
Mea. Besides, Captain Glenn was now responsible for 
the journey. Stas rested and hunted. Aside from this, 
having found among the implements of the caravan a 
chisel and hammers, he was in the cooler hours engaged 
in chiseling upon a great gneiss rock the inscription 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 447 


“Jeszeze Polska nie zginela,”’! for he wished to leave 
some trace of their sojourn in that region. 

The Englishmen, to whom he translated the inscrip- 
tion, were astonished that it never occurred to the boy 
to perpetuate his own name on that rock. But he pre- 
ferred to carve the words he had chosen. 

He did not cease, however, to take care of Nell and awoke 
in her such unbounded confidence that when Clary asked 
her whether she did not fear the storms on the Red Sea, 
the little maid raised her beautiful, calm eyes and only 
answered, “Stas will know what to do.” Captain Glenn 
claimed that truer evidence of what Stas was to the little 
one and greater praise for the boy no one would be able 
to pronounce. 

Though the first despatch to Pan Tarkowski at Port 
Said had been worded with much care, it nevertheless 
created such a powerful sensation that joy almost killed 
Nell’s father. But Pan Tarkowski, though he was an 
exceptionally self-controlled person, in the first moments 
after the receipt of the despatch, knelt in prayer and 
began to beseech God that the intelligence should not 
prove to be a delusion, a morbid chimera, bred from sorrow, 
longing, and pain. Why, they had both toiled so hard to 
learn that the children were even alive! Mr. Rawlinson 
had despatched to the Sudan whole caravans, while Pan 
Tarkowski, disguised as an Arab, had penetrated with 
the greatest danger to his life as far as Khartiim, but 
all was futile. The men who could have given any news 
died of smallpox, of starvation, or perished during the 
continual massacres, and of the children there was not 
the slightest clue. In the end both fathers lost all hope 
and lived only on recollections, in the deep conviction that 


1 “Poland is not yet lost.” The title of the most popular 
Polish national march. — Translator’s note. 


448 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


here in life now nothing awaited them and that only 
death would unite them with those dearest beings who were 
everything for them in the world. 

In the meantime unexpected joy, almost beyond their 
strength, fell upon them. But it was linked with un- 
certainty and amazement. Neither could by any means 
comprehend in what manner news of the children came 
from that part of Africa, that is, Mombasa. Pan Tar- 
kowski supposed that they might have been ransomed 
or stolen by some Arabian caravan which from the eastern 
coast ventured into the interior for ivory and penetrated 
as far as the Nile. The words of the despatch, “Thanks 
to boy,” he explained in this manner: that Stas had noti- 
fied the captain and the doctor by letter where he with 
Nell could be found. Nevertheless, many things it was 
impossible to unravel. On the other hand, Pan Tarkow- 
ski understood quite clearly that the information not 
only was favorable, but very favorable, as otherwise the 
captain and the doctor would not have dared to awaken 
hopes in them, and above all would not have summoned 
them to Mombasa. 

The preparations for the journey were brief, and the 
second day after the receipt of the despatches both engin- 
eers, with Nell’s teacher, were on the deck of a great 
steamer of the “Peninsular and Oriental Company,” 
which was en route for India and on the way stopped at 
Aden, Mombasa, and Zanzibar. At Aden awaited them 
the second despatch: “Children are with us. Well. 
Boy a hero.” After reading it Mr. Rawlinson walked 
about almost out of his senses from joy, and, squeezing 
Pan Tarkowski’s palm, he repeated: “You see, it was 
he who saved her. To him I owe her life.” Pan Tar- 
kowski, not desiring to display too much weakness, an- 
swered only, setting his teeth, “Yes! The boy acquitted 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 449 


himself bravely,’’ but when he retired to the privacy of 
his cabin he wept from happiness. At last the hour arrived 
when the children fell into the embraces of their fathers. 
Mr. Rawlinson seized his recovered little treasure in his 
arms and Pan Tarkowski long clasped his heroic boy to 
his bosom. Their misfortune disappeared as pass away 
whirlwinds and storms of the desert. Their lives were filled 
anew with serenity and happiness; longing and separation 
had augmented their joy. But the children were sur- 
prised that the hair of their “papas” had whitened 
completely during the separation. 


They returned to Suez on a splendid French steamer 
belonging to the “Messageries Maritimes Company,” 
which was full of travelers from the islands Réunion, 
Mauritius, Madagascar, and Zanzibar. When the news 
spread that on board were children who had escaped 
from dervish slavery Stas became an object of general 
curiosity and universal praise. But the happy quartette 
preferred to lock themselves in a great cabin which the 
captain gave up to them and spend there the cooler hours 
in narrations. Nell, too, took part in them, chirping 
like a little bird, and at the same time, to the amusement 
of ali, beginning each sentence with an “and.” So, sitting 
on her father’s knees and raising to him her beautiful 
little eyes, she spoke in this manner: “And, papa, they 
kidnapped us and conveyed us on camels — and Gebhr 
struck me—and Stas defended me—and we came 
to Khartiim and there people died of hunger — and Stas 
worked to get dates for me — and we were at the Mahdi’s 
—and Stas did not want to change his religion — and 
the Mahdi sent us to Fashoda—and afterwards Stas 
killed a lion and all of them — and we lived in a big tree, 
which is called Cracow —and the King was with us 


450 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


—and I had a fever — and Stas cured me — and killed 
a wobo — and conquered the Samburus — and was always 
very kind to me — papa!” 

In the same fashion she spoke about Kali, Mea, the 
King, Saba, Mount Linde, the kites, and the final journey 
until their meeting with the captain’s and doctor’s cara- 
van. Mr. Rawlinson, listening to this chirping, checked 
his tears with difficulty, while Pan Tarkowski could not 
contain himself from pride and happiness, for even from 
these childish narratives it appeared that were it not 
for the bravery and energy of the boy the little one ran 
the risk of perishing, not once but a thousand times, 
without help. 

Stas gave a more specific and complete account of every- 
thing. And it happened that during the narration of 
the journey from Fashoda to the waterfall, a great load 
fell off his heart, for when he told how he shot Gebhr and 
his companions, he hemmed and hawed and began to 
look uneasily at his father, while Pan Tarkowski knitted 
his brow, pondered a while, and after that gravely said: 

“Listen, Stas! It is not allowable for any one to be 
lavish with death, but if anybody menaces your father- 
land or puts in jeopardy the life of your mother, sister, 
or the life.of a woman entrusted to your care, shoot him 
in the head and ask no questions. Do not reproach your- 
self on that account.” 

Mr. Rawlinson immediately after the return to Port 
Said took Nell to England, where he settled permanently. 
Stas was sent by his father to a school in Alexandria, 
where his deeds and adventures were less known. The 
children corresponded almost daily, but circumstances 
combined to prevent their seeing each other for ten years. 
The boy, after finishing school in Egypt, entered the Poly- 
technic in Zurich, after which, having secured his diploma, 


IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 451 


he was engaged in the construction of tunnels in Switzer- 
land. 

When ten years had passed, Pan Tarkowski retired 
from the service of the Canal Company, and he and Stas 
visited their friends in England. Mr. Rawlinson invited 
them to his home, near Hampton Court, for the whole 
summer. Nell had finished her eighteenth year and had 
grown into a maiden as charming as a flower, and Stas 
became convinced, at the expense of his own peace, that a 
man, who had completed twenty-four years, could never- 
theless still think of ladies. He even thought of beautiful 
and dear Nell so incessantly that finally he decided to 
run away to whatever place his eyes would lead him. 

But while in that state of mind, Mr. Rawlinson one day 
placed both of his palms on Stas’ shoulders and, looking 
him straight in the eyes, said with an angelic benignity: 

“Tell me, Stas, whether there is a man in the world to 
whom I could give my treasure and darling with greater 
confidence?” 


The young couple married and remained in England 
until Mr. Rawlinson’s death and a year later they started 
upon a long journey. As they promised to themselves to 
visit those localities in which they had spent their earliest 
years and afterwards at one time had wandered as chil- 
dren, they proceeded first of all to Egypt. The state of 
the Mahdi and Abdullahi had already been overthrown, 
and after its fall England, as Captain Glenn stated, “suc- 
ceeded.” A railroad was built from Cairo to Khartiim. 
The “sudds,” or the Nilotic obstructions of growing 
water plants, were cleared so that the young couple could 
in a comfortable steamer reach not only Fashoda but 
the great Lake Victoria Nyanza. From the city of Flor- 
ence lying on the shores of that lake they proceeded by a 


452 IN DESERT AND WILDERNESS 


railroad to Mombasa. Captain Glenn and Doctor Clary 
had already removed to Natal, but in Mombasa there 
lived under the solicitous care of the local English author- 
ities the King. The giant at once recognized his former 
master and mistress and particularly greeted Nell with 
such joyful trumpeting that the mangrove trees in the 
neighborhood shook as if they were swept by the wind. 
He recognized also old Saba, who outlived almost two- 
fold the years usually allotted to a dog and, though a trifle 
blind, accompanied Stas and Nell everywhere. 

Here also Stas learned that Kali enjoyed good health; 
that under the English Protectorate he ruled the entire 
region south of Lake Rudolf, and that he had introduced 
missionaries who were spreading Christianity among 
the local savage tribes. 


After this journey the young couple returned to Europe 


and, with Stas’ venerable father, settled permanently 
in Poland. 


THE END 





UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 


BERKELEY 


Return to desk from which borrowed. 
This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. 





RECB' LD 


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JUN 13 198923. 


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aAn25 197264 


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“2PM 8 5 


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